Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 117.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 894,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,979,000 after buying an additional 20,970 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 13.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 672,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,816,000 after acquiring an additional 79,611 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 12.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 620,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,417,000 after acquiring an additional 69,078 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 350,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,517,000 after purchasing an additional 136,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 304,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,830,000 after purchasing an additional 17,307 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

NYSE:AMP opened at $425.94 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $420.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $386.14. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $286.58 and a 1-year high of $440.67. The firm has a market cap of $42.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $8.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.10 by $0.29. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 75.97%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 34.74 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James M. Cracchiolo sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.48, for a total transaction of $4,817,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 169,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,854,937.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James M. Cracchiolo sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.48, for a total transaction of $4,817,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 169,012 shares in the company, valued at $67,854,937.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James M. Cracchiolo sold 4,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.22, for a total value of $1,707,251.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 181,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,901,586.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 56,980 shares of company stock worth $23,053,480. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Argus boosted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $440.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $400.00 to $437.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $450.88.

Ameriprise Financial Profile

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.