Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Begins Coverage on Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP)

Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AMP has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $485.00 to $452.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $582.00 price objective on Ameriprise Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $544.22.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of AMP opened at $446.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $465.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $476.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $40.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.27. Ameriprise Financial has a 52-week low of $422.37 and a 52-week high of $550.18.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.33 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 63.04%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.54 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial will post 38.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

In other news, CEO William F. Truscott sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.08, for a total transaction of $2,660,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,464,239.92. This represents a 29.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.22, for a total transaction of $3,809,540.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,052,529.98. This trade represents a 55.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,658 shares of company stock worth $8,998,675. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $742,438,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,085,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,455,000 after buying an additional 496,319 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1,440.2% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 466,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,572,000 after buying an additional 435,885 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 828,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,216,000 after buying an additional 381,754 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 140.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 471,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,805,000 after buying an additional 275,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.

Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.