AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) Trading Down 2.4% Following Insider Selling

AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) shares fell 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $10.62 and last traded at $10.66. Approximately 19,178,950 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 18,826,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.92.

Specifically, EVP Bernice Bell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $55,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 406,947 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,417. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AGNC shares. Wall Street Zen raised AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $11.50 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.11.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $10.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.81.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $305.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. AGNC Investment had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 57.94%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.5%. AGNC Investment’s payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AGNC Investment

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AGNC Investment by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,745,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,047,828,000 after buying an additional 1,304,782 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,097,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,244 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,245,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,374 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the 4th quarter worth $141,830,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,491,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

AGNC Investment Corp. is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company employs a leveraged total return strategy, borrowing against its securities to enhance income potential while using interest rate hedges to manage risk. AGNC’s investment objective is to generate attractive monthly dividends and long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, AGNC focuses exclusively on U.S.