Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,733,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 229,240 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 9.30% of Assured Guaranty worth $376,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assured Guaranty by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 981,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,020,000 after acquiring an additional 114,308 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 977,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $77,751,000 after purchasing an additional 71,114 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Assured Guaranty by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 926,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,670,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 37.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,322,000 after acquiring an additional 184,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Assured Guaranty in the third quarter worth approximately $53,026,000. 92.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Assured Guaranty Stock Performance

AGO stock traded down $1.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $90.71. The company had a trading volume of 177,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,817. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.28. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 1-year low of $67.27 and a 1-year high of $96.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Assured Guaranty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Assured Guaranty's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AGO shares. StockNews.com raised Assured Guaranty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Yukiko Omura sold 3,599 shares of Assured Guaranty stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 19,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,593.05. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.