AGNC Investment Corp. $AGNC Shares Acquired by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 921.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 570,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 514,804 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $5,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AGNC Investment by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,745,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,047,828,000 after buying an additional 1,304,782 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,097,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $312,275,000 after buying an additional 1,596,244 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in AGNC Investment by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,245,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,774,000 after buying an additional 1,090,374 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AGNC Investment during the fourth quarter valued at about $141,830,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,491,585 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,468 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on AGNC Investment from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on AGNC Investment from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.25.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC opened at $11.00 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.55 and a 200-day moving average of $10.79. The company has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.31. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 1-year low of $9.11 and a 1-year high of $12.19.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.06. AGNC Investment had a net margin of 39.50% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The business had revenue of ($114.00) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $411.57 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 13.1%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.01%.

Insider Activity at AGNC Investment

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Donna Blank sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total transaction of $237,160.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 96,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,039,957.38. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Federico sold 64,412 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.08, for a total value of $713,684.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,927,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,352,079.64. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 215,234 shares of company stock worth $2,364,022 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AGNC Investment 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.