Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,378,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,273,565 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.72% of AGNC Investment worth $58,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 94.5% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in AGNC Investment by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 5,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AGNC Investment Trading Down 1.1 %

AGNC stock opened at $8.67 on Wednesday. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $7.85 and a 52-week high of $10.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.58.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $846.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.71 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a yield of 17.7%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 360.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on AGNC Investment from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jones Trading reduced their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.25 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AGNC Investment has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGNC Investment

In related news, EVP Bernice Bell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.88, for a total transaction of $71,040.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 374,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,288.72. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 48,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.70, for a total transaction of $420,497.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,691,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,715,362.70. This represents a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,166 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,759 over the last quarter. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AGNC Investment 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).