JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,316,776 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 740,261 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.41% of Annaly Capital Management worth $42,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NLY. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.49. The company had a trading volume of 12,507,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,867,064. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a one year low of $16.61 and a one year high of $22.11. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.91. The firm has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's payout ratio is currently 176.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NLY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.29.

Annaly Capital Management Profile

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.