Citigroup Inc. Raises Stock Position in Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) by 48.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 865,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 280,645 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.13% of Annaly Capital Management worth $17,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NLY. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.8% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 41.6% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 15,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Annaly Capital Management news, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $382,643.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,081 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,094.34. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 28,225 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $652,562.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 204,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,831.92. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,252 shares of company stock worth $1,639,995. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NLY. Barclays set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. BTIG Research raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Argus upgraded Annaly Capital Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.11.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NLY opened at $23.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.16 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.21 and its 200 day moving average is $22.09. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a fifty-two week low of $16.59 and a fifty-two week high of $24.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 34.02%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $567.67 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management Inc will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.0%. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is currently 100.72%.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.