Simplify Asset Management Inc. Sells 30,252 Shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Simplify Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) by 38.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 30,252 shares during the quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NLY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,613,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,422,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,564 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,425,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $608,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,451 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,401,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $411,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,559 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth about $162,477,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,977,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $156,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $22.55 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a fifty-two week low of $19.24 and a fifty-two week high of $24.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.46. The stock has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.62, a PEG ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 1.16.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $341.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $595.27 million. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 15.92% and a net margin of 34.33%. On average, analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management Inc will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.3%. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is currently 101.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BTIG Research set a $24.00 price objective on Annaly Capital Management in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $22.50) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JonesTrading reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Annaly Capital Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Annaly Capital Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.44.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.