Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 285,460 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 298,910 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 285,460 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $2,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 94.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 775.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 581,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 515,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Up 2.8 %

AGNC Investment stock opened at $8.35 on Friday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $7.85 and a fifty-two week high of $10.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.32.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.45%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AGNC Investment Profile

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).