Cerity Partners LLC Sells 53,988 Shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 30.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 53,988 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.24% of Assured Guaranty worth $10,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AGO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 816 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 554.2% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.76, for a total value of $232,476.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,181,425.12. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 10,438 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,337,635 shares in the company, valued at $115,210,502.55. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,004 shares of company stock valued at $7,324,274 in the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AGO opened at $84.08 on Tuesday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1 year low of $72.57 and a 1 year high of $96.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.19. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.03. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 45.58%. The firm 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 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AGO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.