Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 8,272,674 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,426,571 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 8,272,674 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 6.14% of Annaly Capital Management worth $630,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NLY. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NLY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays started 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 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.08.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.5 %

NLY traded down $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.52. 2,783,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,027,479. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a one year low of $16.60 and a one year high of $22.11. The stock's fifty day moving average is $20.12 and its 200 day moving average is $19.80. The firm has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 176.10%.

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.