Guggenheim Capital LLC Purchases 18,801 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,121 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 18,801 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $1,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NLY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,001,407,000 after buying an additional 5,859,104 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,099,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $332,665,000 after purchasing an additional 109,655 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,453,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $172,706,000 after purchasing an additional 814,917 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $127,397,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 238.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,198,020 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $95,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,664,098 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NLY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.08.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Annaly Capital Management stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.25. 5,776,487 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,022,079. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.60 and a fifty-two week high of $22.11. The firm's 50 day moving average is $20.20 and its 200-day moving average is $19.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. Analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.55%. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management Company 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.