Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 54,049 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 96.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,049 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,348,000 after acquiring an additional 10,316,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $87,269,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 821.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,464,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,332,000 after purchasing an additional 4,871,584 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,840,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,614,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC stock opened at $9.12 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.48. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.29.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 16.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 360.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, EVP Kenneth L. Pollack sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.03, for a total value of $158,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 447,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,044,004.23. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total value of $429,197.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,643,088 shares in the company, valued at $14,590,621.44. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,384 shares of company stock valued at $1,228,039. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AGNC. Wall Street Zen downgraded AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.75.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

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).