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

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

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 27.6% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 554.2% during 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 last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assured Guaranty

In related news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 71,917 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $6,192,772.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,348,073 shares in the company, valued at $116,082,566.03. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Laura Bieling sold 2,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,462 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,425.12. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 Performance

NYSE:AGO traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.83. 86,719 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,020. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $85.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.05. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $72.57 and a fifty-two week high of $96.50.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $257.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Assured Guaranty's payout ratio is 16.25%.

About Assured Guaranty

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.