Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,979,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 167,805 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.33% of AGNC Investment worth $28,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,348,000 after purchasing an additional 10,316,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,269,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,840,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 16,996,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,828,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $134,645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,105 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Donna Blank sold 17,218 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.67, for a total transaction of $149,280.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 90,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $783,291.15. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total transaction of $71,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 374,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,321,288.72. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,384 shares of company stock worth $1,228,039. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $9.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 1.28.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $846.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 20.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a jul 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 15.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 360.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jones Trading lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.79.

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).