Investors Purchase Large Volume of Annaly Capital Management Call Options (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 36,494 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 92% compared to the typical daily volume of 19,043 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NLY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays set a $24.00 price target on Annaly Capital Management and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $23.25 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $382,643.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 28,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $652,562.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 204,491 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,831.92. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 71,252 shares of company stock worth $1,639,995 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 56,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 29,978 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 39.4% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 14,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Annaly Capital Management by 17.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 541,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,003,000 after acquiring an additional 80,481 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Annaly Capital Management by 20.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 833.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,920,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607,784 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $22.43 on Thursday. Annaly Capital Management has a twelve month low of $16.59 and a twelve month high of $24.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.07, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.24.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $567.67 million. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 34.02%. As a group, research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.