Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,160,279 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 506,210 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Annaly Capital Management worth $23,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NLY. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 8.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,990,064 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $361,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342,056 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 454.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,010,542 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,898,000 after acquiring an additional 828,325 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the first quarter valued at $12,781,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 2,254.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,706 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $90,260,000 after acquiring an additional 430,604 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the first quarter worth about $7,941,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NLY shares. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $23.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Annaly Capital Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded Annaly Capital Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.33.

Insider Activity at Annaly Capital Management

In other Annaly Capital Management news, CEO David L. Finkelstein sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total value of $1,002,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 612,469 shares in the company, valued at $12,280,003.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,115,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,210,249. The company has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of -280.21 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.83. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $21.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.01). Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.27%. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is -3,714.29%.

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.