Bank of America Corp DE Sells 78,981 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 78,981 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.28% of Assured Guaranty worth $13,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AGO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,181,425.12. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $899,024.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,337,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,210,502.55. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,004 shares of company stock worth $7,324,274. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AGO traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $84.37. 395,444 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,115. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 52-week low of $72.57 and a 52-week high of $96.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $85.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.52. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 0.82.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $257.96 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is 16.25%.

Assured Guaranty 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.