Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 97,158 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,815,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 97,158 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.32% of Annaly Capital Management worth $33,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 209.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 68.1% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NLY. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE NLY opened at $21.24 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.74. The stock has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 1.52. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.67 and a 12-month high of $21.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. On average, analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.24%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.52%.

Annaly Capital Management Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc, a diversified capital manager, engages in mortgage finance. The company invests in agency mortgage-backed securities collateralized by residential mortgages; non-agency residential whole loans and securitized products within the residential and commercial markets; mortgage servicing rights; agency commercial mortgage-backed securities; to-be-announced forward contracts; residential mortgage loans; and agency or private label credit risk transfer securities.