Investors Buy High Volume of Annaly Capital Management Call Options (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 47,277 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 428% compared to the typical volume of 8,955 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,426,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $630,007,000 after acquiring an additional 8,272,674 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth $127,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,001,407,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859,104 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew 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 valued at $95,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,664,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,587,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,853,000 after buying an additional 3,606,366 shares in the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $20.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. Annaly Capital Management has a 52-week low of $17.67 and a 52-week high of $22.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.06.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its 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 return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.56%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 176.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.