WBI Investments LLC Buys New Position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,556,683,000 after purchasing an additional 516,437 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $689,272,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 19.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 642,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,546,000 after acquiring an additional 208,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Ameriprise Financial

In other news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 4,636 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.07, for a total value of $2,499,128.52. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Ameriprise Financial stock opened at $521.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $49.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $385.74 and a one year high of $582.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $520.36.

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

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.75%.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $4.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.