9,475,463 Shares in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,475,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $87,269,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,348,000 after buying an additional 10,316,999 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AGNC Investment by 821.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,464,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,332,000 after acquiring an additional 4,871,584 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter worth $39,840,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 115.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,912,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023,275 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,349,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,690,000 after purchasing an additional 581,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGNC opened at $9.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $8.92 and a 52-week high of $10.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.13 and a 200-day moving average of $9.90.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.45%.

Insider Transactions at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $130,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 372,226 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AGNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

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).