Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 822,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,909 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.62% of Assured Guaranty worth $65,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGO. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty during the third quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Assured Guaranty by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Assured Guaranty during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 596 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:AGO traded up $1.80 on Friday, reaching $87.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,152,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,615. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $88.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.16. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12-month low of $72.49 and a 12-month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $1.00. The company had revenue of $269.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.57 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.58% and a net margin of 70.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Assured Guaranty news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $286,948.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 19,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. The trade was a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Assured Guaranty from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

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.