Bank & Trust Co Increases Stock Holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 57,991.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,055 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial accounts for 8.1% of Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $16,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. SouthState Bank Corp grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 78.6% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 50 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $467.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $636.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.80.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMP traded down $5.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $491.18. The stock had a trading volume of 156,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,631. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $542.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $494.64. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $422.37 and a fifty-two week high of $572.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $44.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.81 by $0.26. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The business had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is 16.40%.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, September 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameriprise Financial news, CFO Walter Berman sold 11,012 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $548.95, for a total value of $6,045,037.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,609 shares in the company, valued at $3,079,060.55. The trade was a 66.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider William Williams sold 8,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.35, for a total value of $4,428,063.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,656,793. The trade was a 54.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 29,988 shares of company stock worth $16,316,497 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company provides financial planning, investment advice, wealth management, retirement planning and insurance solutions to individuals, families, business owners and institutional clients.

Ameriprise serves clients primarily through a network of financial advisors and offers products and services that include brokerage and advisory accounts, mutual funds and other investments, retirement accounts, annuities, life and long-term-care insurance, banking products and personalized financial planning.