Annaly Capital Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 21,550 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 167% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,074 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NLY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Annaly Capital Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $21.85. The stock had a trading volume of 6,571,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,184,874. Annaly Capital Management has a 12 month low of $17.67 and a 12 month high of $22.11. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $20.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.97. The company has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

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Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 163.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,426,571 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $630,007,000 after purchasing an additional 8,272,674 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 109,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,400,024 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $360,296,000 after buying an additional 223,294 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,453,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $172,706,000 after buying an additional 814,917 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Annaly Capital Management Company 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.