Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing 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 quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.28% of Assured Guaranty worth $13,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,116,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,463,000 after buying an additional 449,310 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,796,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 990,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,127,000 after purchasing an additional 9,062 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 903,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $81,303,000 after acquiring an additional 97,091 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 806,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,904,000 after purchasing an additional 254,063 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,181,425.12. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $899,024.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,337,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $115,210,502.55. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,004 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,274. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of Assured Guaranty stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $85.01. The stock had a trading volume of 19,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,062. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.82. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a twelve month low of $72.57 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50 day moving average is $85.23 and its 200 day moving average is $88.48.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.