Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) by 480.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 290,085 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.05% of Annaly Capital Management worth $8,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NLY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,589,075 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,224,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887,629 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,371,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,920,000 after buying an additional 1,687,839 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $130,626,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,604,380 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,475,000 after buying an additional 70,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 394.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,374,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,623,000 after buying an additional 4,286,893 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JonesTrading boosted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus raised shares of Annaly Capital Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $24.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Annaly Capital Management

In other Annaly Capital Management news, COO Steven Francis Campbell sold 28,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total value of $652,562.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 204,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,831.92. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Serena Wolfe sold 16,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total value of $382,643.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,081 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,094.34. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,995. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $20.77 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.47, a P/E/G ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.24. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a 52 week low of $16.59 and a 52 week high of $24.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.02% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $567.67 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management Inc will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.5%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.72%.

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.