Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Short Interest Down 18.9% in March

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a drop of 18.9% from the February 28th total of 1,430,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 545,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $514.89.

Insider Activity

In other Ameriprise Financial news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Ameriprise Financial 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,231,200. The trade was a 9.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William F. Truscott sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.29, for a total transaction of $3,241,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,576,486.67. This represents a 29.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,636 shares of company stock worth $6,263,989 over the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameriprise Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMP opened at $494.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $520.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $524.14. Ameriprise Financial has a twelve month low of $385.74 and a twelve month high of $582.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $9.36 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial will post 38.64 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.