Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,794 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 209.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $19.79 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $21.11. The firm has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -282.64 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.84.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.01). Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -3,714.29%.

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.