Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its position in Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 407,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,495 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.71% of Assured Guaranty worth $30,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.3% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Assured Guaranty in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 2.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Assured Guaranty by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Assured Guaranty by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 25,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AGO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Assured Guaranty from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

Assured Guaranty Price Performance

Shares of AGO stock opened at $77.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.16. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a 12 month low of $53.14 and a 12 month high of $96.60.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.55. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 57.45%. The business had revenue of $245.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. This is a boost from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Assured Guaranty’s payout ratio is 9.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total transaction of $2,398,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 304,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,368,509.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Laura Bieling sold 3,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.93, for a total transaction of $311,806.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,281,757.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Bailenson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.94, for a total value of $2,398,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 304,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,368,509.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.