Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 6,019,268 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,366,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,019,268 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.12% of AGNC Investment worth $621,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $38,593,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in AGNC Investment by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 185,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 94,332 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in AGNC Investment by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 451,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after buying an additional 146,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at about $69,215,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 26,238 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AGNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.50 target price on the stock. Jonestrading cut their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AGNC Investment presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 111,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,051,173.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Paul E. Mullings sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.40, for a total transaction of $50,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 111,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,051,173.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.35, for a total value of $46,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,545 shares in the company, valued at $706,345.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,900 shares of company stock valued at $149,030. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AGNC Investment Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AGNC opened at $9.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $6.81 and a 52-week high of $10.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.55 and a 200 day moving average of $9.62.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $642.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.38 million. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 27.14% and a net margin of 32.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a jun 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 14.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 158.24%.

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).