Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Takes $180,000 Position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the period. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 1.7 %

NLY stock opened at $20.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.06. The company has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.67 and a fifty-two week high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on NLY. Barclays began coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.44.

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.