LPL Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 688,385 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,375 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.12% of Annaly Capital Management worth $12,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 275,559 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,043,000 after buying an additional 132,891 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 48,555 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth about $527,000. Tandem Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter worth about $327,000. Finally, Wernau Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $18.14. 14,914,514 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,682,216. The stock has a market cap of $10.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.01. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.67 and a 12-month high of $22.11.

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

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.44%. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 176.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NLY. Barclays assumed 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 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.44.

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.