Private Portfolio Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,681 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares during the quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,614,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,645,000 after buying an additional 2,311,105 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in AGNC Investment by 112.7% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 364,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,358,000 after buying an additional 7,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment in the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

AGNC stock opened at $9.48 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.90. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. As a group, research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp., formerly American Capital Agency Corp., is a real estate investment trust. The Company invests in agency residential mortgage-backed securities on a leveraged basis. Its investments consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a government-sponsored enterprise, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), or by the United States Government agency, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) (collectively, GSEs).