Xponance Inc. Buys 18,809 Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,809 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $2,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth about $2,740,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 35,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 187,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,439,000 after acquiring an additional 26,344 shares during the period. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $21.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.02. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.67 and a 52 week high of $22.11.

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

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is 176.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays assumed 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 price objective for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.44.

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.