Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $18.46 Million Stock Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,008,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 92,959 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $18,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NLY. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 275,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,043,000 after acquiring an additional 132,891 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 537,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after purchasing an additional 48,555 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $527,000. Tandem Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Wernau Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NLY shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays began coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.29.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

NYSE:NLY opened at $17.49 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.91. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.60 and a fifty-two week high of $22.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

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.