Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 458,194 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,969,784 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 458,194 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.34% of AGNC Investment worth $27,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,662,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $80,392,000 after purchasing an additional 424,990 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 14,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares during the period. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 73,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 17,032 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 41,009 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 2,954 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $133,000. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $10.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,284,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,189,309. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $9.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.89. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.48. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $8.92 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.46%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In related news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp., formerly American Capital Agency Corp., is a real estate investment trust. The Company invests in agency residential mortgage-backed securities on a leveraged basis. Its investments consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a government-sponsored enterprise, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), or by the United States Government agency, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) (collectively, GSEs).