Arizona State Retirement System Sells 41,968 Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Free Report) by 75.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 41,968 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 22.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,455,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,184,000 after acquiring an additional 270,192 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the third quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 18.5% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 660,713 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 103,248 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 93.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,011,244 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,798,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 10.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,231,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,232,000 after purchasing an additional 119,460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ARR traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $18.36. The stock had a trading volume of 776,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,765. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.46. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.31 and a 12-month high of $27.00. The stock has a market cap of $895.05 million, a P/E ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 1.48.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.69%. ARMOUR Residential REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -150.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARR. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

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.