ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Free Report) by 140.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,352 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 42,823 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.13% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the third quarter valued at $61,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,465 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 4th quarter valued at about $170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARR. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. B. Riley upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, February 10th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

Shares of ARR stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.29. 2,387,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,774,884. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $17.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.45. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.18 and a 12-month high of $21.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.22 and a beta of 1.23.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 20.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT's payout ratio is currently -669.77%.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in the United States. Its securities portfolio primarily consists of the United States Government-sponsored entity's (GSE) and the Government National Mortgage Administration's issued or guaranteed securities backed by fixed rate, hybrid adjustable rate, and adjustable-rate home loans; and unsecured notes and bonds issued by the GSE and the United States treasuries, as well as money market instruments.