First Trust Advisors LP Sells 75,540 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 35.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 135,489 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 75,540 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $2,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,204 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 92,039 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 12,809 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter worth $335,000. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 128,406 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 3,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.50 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jones Trading restated a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.10.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE NLY traded up $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,539,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,129,457. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.25. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $22.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.77.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.01. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. The firm had revenue of $186.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $418.04 million. As a group, analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.62%. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 314.61%.

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.