Royal Bank of Canada Sells 95,738 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 725,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95,738 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $386,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $689,272,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,801,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,556,683,000 after acquiring an additional 516,437 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 79,679.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 371,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,943,000 after acquiring an additional 371,306 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 429.0% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 417,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,103,000 after acquiring an additional 338,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,268,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,344,000 after acquiring an additional 209,549 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 4,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,901,249.59. This trade represents a 39.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Ameriprise Financial stock opened at $524.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $479.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $520.15. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $385.74 and a 52 week high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.08 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 69.35%. Ameriprise Financial’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $4.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AMP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $518.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $517.13.

Ameriprise Financial Profile

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.