AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 0.2% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $8.77 and last traded at $8.80. 10,059,786 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 19,376,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.81.

Specifically, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total transaction of $71,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 374,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,321,288.72. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total value of $429,197.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,643,088 shares in the company, valued at $14,590,621.44. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total value of $420,497.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,691,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jones Trading dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.96.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.60. The company has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 1.32.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. The company had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $436.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment's dividend payout ratio is presently 360.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,269,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 4,871,584 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,840,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 18.0% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 16,996,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,828,000 after buying an additional 2,589,020 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).