Norges Bank Invests $127.40 Million in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,961,567 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $127,397,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.24% of Annaly Capital Management as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,001,407,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859,104 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,099,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $332,665,000 after acquiring an additional 109,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,400,024 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $360,296,000 after purchasing an additional 223,294 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 2.9% during 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. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 238.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,198,020 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,664,098 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NLY shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,130,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,645,269. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.03. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.70 dividend. 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 14.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.10%.

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.