Short Interest in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Grows By 29.2%

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the January 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 516,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $514.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 4,636 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.07, for a total transaction of $2,499,128.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,237 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,249.59. This represents a 39.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total transaction of $523,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,231,200. The trade was a 9.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,636 shares of company stock valued at $6,263,989. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameriprise Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,801,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,556,683,000 after buying an additional 516,437 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,647,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,407,607,000 after acquiring an additional 38,141 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,447,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $770,886,000 after acquiring an additional 23,655 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $689,272,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,268,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,344,000 after purchasing an additional 209,549 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE AMP traded up $11.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $509.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 766,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,157. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $538.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $516.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ameriprise Financial has a twelve month low of $385.74 and a twelve month high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $9.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.16 by $0.20. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 69.35%. Analysts anticipate that Ameriprise Financial will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.91%.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services to individual and institutional clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other.