Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Sapience Investments LLC

Sapience Investments LLC decreased its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,150 shares during the period. Sapience Investments LLC's holdings in Assured Guaranty were worth $2,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1,794.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total transaction of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $6,192,772.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,348,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,082,566.03. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,004 shares of company stock worth $7,324,274 over the last ninety days. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

NYSE AGO traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $83.77. The stock had a trading volume of 143,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,992. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.48. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 0.82. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $72.57 and a 52-week high of $96.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business had revenue of $345.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $257.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.25%.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.