EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 436 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 9.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,285,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,013,359,000 after acquiring an additional 358,699 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,231,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 1,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 5,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,687,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total value of $523,120.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,231,200. This trade represents a 9.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,237 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,249.59. The trade was a 39.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Ameriprise Financial stock opened at $492.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.74 and a 12 month high of $582.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $476.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $519.86. The company has a market cap of $47.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 69.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.