AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,041 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGNC. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 255,789 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 32,481 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AGNC Investment by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 171,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 64,099 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5,488.0% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 317,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,085,000 after acquiring an additional 312,050 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 57,859 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 729,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,719,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC opened at $10.38 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.93. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1 year low of $8.92 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,781.90. The trade was a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AGNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus upgraded AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AGNC Investment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).