Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NLY. Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 634,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,607,000 after buying an additional 41,804 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,001,407,000 after acquiring an additional 5,859,104 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,811,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,244,074 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,766,000 after purchasing an additional 126,980 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Annaly Capital Management by 152.3% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 110,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 66,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NLY opened at $21.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.06. The company has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a one year low of $17.67 and a one year high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.29%. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is currently 176.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Annaly Capital Management

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.