ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Position Reduced by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Free Report) by 80.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,829 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 159,324 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 66.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 12.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ARR. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ARR traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.17. 971,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,164,791. The company has a market cap of $885.79 million, a PE ratio of -9.51 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.47. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.31 and a 12-month high of $27.00.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.85%. ARMOUR Residential REIT's payout ratio is -150.79%.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in the United States. Its securities portfolio primarily consists of the United States Government-sponsored entity's (GSE) and the Government National Mortgage Administration's issued or guaranteed securities backed by fixed rate, hybrid adjustable rate, and adjustable-rate home loans; and unsecured notes and bonds issued by the GSE and the United States treasuries, as well as money market instruments.