Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 21,550 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 167% compared to the average daily volume of 8,074 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NLY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.44.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Annaly Capital Management

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Annaly Capital Management by 93.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 275,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,043,000 after acquiring an additional 132,891 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 worth $10,780,000 after purchasing an additional 48,555 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 652,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,091,000 after buying an additional 120,163 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at $527,000. Finally, Tandem Financial LLC purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth $327,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE NLY traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $21.22. 4,691,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,564,292. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.31 and a 200 day moving average of $19.94. Annaly Capital Management has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $22.11. The stock has a market cap of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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.