Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 1,304 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,304 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $8,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 106,308.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,587,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $389,527,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 617.7% during the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 583,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,839,000 after purchasing an additional 502,185 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the first quarter valued at $308,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 123.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 498,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,318,000 after purchasing an additional 275,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMP shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $385.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $358.22.

Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

In other news, CEO James M. Cracchiolo sold 9,616 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.00, for a total value of $3,404,064.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,614,462. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 13,042 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total value of $4,584,915.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,829,274.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James M. Cracchiolo sold 9,616 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.00, for a total value of $3,404,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,103 shares in the company, valued at $55,614,462. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

NYSE:AMP opened at $340.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $339.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $320.99. The stock has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.47. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.35 and a 52 week high of $358.02.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $7.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 82.23% and a net margin of 15.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 29.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 4th. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.36%.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc, through 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.