KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 160,500 AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 160,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AGNC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AGNC Investment by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,796,000 after acquiring an additional 162,152 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,552,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,242,000 after purchasing an additional 71,330 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,730,000 after purchasing an additional 242,640 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 195.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 53,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 35,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 35.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 584,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,060,000 after buying an additional 154,029 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, 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 transaction of $50,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $9.52 on Friday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12 month low of $8.92 and a 12 month high of $10.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.14 and its 200 day moving average is $9.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.50.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

About AGNC Investment

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).