AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Stock Price Down 0.6% Following Insider Selling

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)’s stock price was down 0.6% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $10.04 and last traded at $10.08. Approximately 5,403,659 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 19,161,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.14.

Specifically, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,737,149.04. This trade represents a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AGNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.88. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 1.48.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. As a group, equities 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 jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 15.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is 148.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGNC. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in AGNC Investment by 4.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 39,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AGNC Investment during the second quarter valued at $163,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in AGNC Investment by 11.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 183,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 18,864 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in AGNC Investment by 52.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in AGNC Investment by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 330,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,150,000 after acquiring an additional 6,070 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

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).