HighTower Advisors LLC Has $2.40 Million Stock Position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 87.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,995 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $2,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NLY. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in 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 worth $95,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,664,098 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 531.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,981,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350,435 shares during the period. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1,730.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,792,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,032 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 5,113.5% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 788,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,427,000 after purchasing an additional 773,215 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at $12,676,000. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $21.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.02. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.91%. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.