Legal & General Group Plc Sells 746,231 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,370,714 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 746,231 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.42% of Annaly Capital Management worth $43,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 15.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 69,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 17.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 303,891 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,099,000 after buying an additional 45,843 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 537,125 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,780,000 after purchasing an additional 48,555 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 162,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,253,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,638,216 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $172,988,000 after acquiring an additional 241,465 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NLY. Barclays began coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.07.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Up 1.5 %

Annaly Capital Management stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.90. 6,899,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,933,601. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.57 and a 200 day moving average of $19.86. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. Research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.65%. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 176.10%.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc, a diversified capital manager, engages in mortgage finance. The company invests in agency mortgage-backed securities collateralized by residential mortgages; non-agency residential whole loans and securitized products within the residential and commercial markets; mortgage servicing rights; agency commercial mortgage-backed securities; to-be-announced forward contracts; residential mortgage loans; and agency or private label credit risk transfer securities.