Plato Investment Management Ltd Trims Stock Position in Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Plato Investment Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) by 72.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 29,146 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NLY. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 56,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 29,978 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 14,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 541,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,003,000 after purchasing an additional 80,481 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 833.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,920,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607,784 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Annaly Capital Management

In related news, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $382,643.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,005,094.34. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 26,491 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.83, for a total transaction of $604,789.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 178,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,063,740. This trade represents a 12.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,995. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NLY. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JonesTrading reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.22.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 0.8%

Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $22.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.45. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a 12-month low of $18.43 and a 12-month high of $24.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $341.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $595.27 million. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.33% and a return on equity of 15.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management Inc will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is 94.59%.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.