EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $664,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,317,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,855,891,000 after purchasing an additional 322,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 226.6% in the 1st quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 21,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,585,000 after purchasing an additional 14,906 shares in the last quarter. 82.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $385.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Ameriprise Financial in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $361.00.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AMP opened at $347.12 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.48. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.35 and a 1 year high of $358.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $343.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.36%.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 26th that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ameriprise Financial

In related news, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 13,042 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $4,584,915.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,274.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ameriprise Financial news, CEO James M. Cracchiolo sold 9,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,614,462. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 13,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total value of $4,584,915.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,274.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

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.