Ruffer LLP Sells 679,061 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Ruffer LLP lowered its position in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,399,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 679,061 shares during the quarter. AGNC Investment makes up about 2.1% of Ruffer LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ruffer LLP’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $58,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in AGNC Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,025,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AGNC Investment by 7.6% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,068 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment in the third quarter valued at about $351,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 20,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 2,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 289.0% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 141,554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 105,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of AGNC stock opened at $10.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.50. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.93. AGNC Investment Corp. has a twelve month low of $8.92 and a twelve month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at $3,737,149.04. The trade was a 3.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.52% 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).