Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Stock Position Reduced by Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV cut its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 738 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $58,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 53,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. LVZ Inc. lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 19,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,121 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. 51.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on NLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NLY stock opened at $21.70 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $22.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last announced 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management 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.