Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 97,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $898,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in AGNC Investment by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 33,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the period. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AGNC opened at $10.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.44 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.93.

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

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

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).