EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 14,699 Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management, acquiring 14,699 shares valued at approximately $299,000 during the 1st quarter.
• Vanguard Group raised its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 3.0%, now owning over 56 million shares valued at over $1.14 billion, indicating increased institutional investment interest.
• Analyst ratings for Annaly show a range with seven analysts rating it as a Buy and four as Hold, with an average target price of $20.83.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,699 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NLY. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 1st quarter worth about $37,580,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,356,579 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,144,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634,883 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,711,288 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $86,217,000 after buying an additional 730,207 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 135.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,265,432 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $23,157,000 after purchasing an additional 728,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 112.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,028,089 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $20,880,000 after buying an additional 544,046 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NLY. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Annaly Capital Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Jones Trading reissued a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $20.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Annaly Capital Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.83.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded down $0.10 on Friday, hitting $22.06. 3,836,475 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,678,704. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a 52 week low of $16.59 and a 52 week high of $22.45. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.00.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $273.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $237.00 million. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 13.76%. As a group, research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.7%. Annaly Capital Management's payout ratio is currently 277.23%.

About Annaly Capital Management

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.