Investment Management Corp of Ontario Lowers Stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario cut its holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,097 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $7,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $399,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $1,286,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James raised 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 note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $517.13.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of AMP stock opened at $492.09 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $476.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $519.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $46.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.74 and a 1 year high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.08 by $0.42. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 69.35%. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid 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 (DPR) is 21.75%.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $4.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 4,636 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,237 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,249.59. The trade was a 39.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total transaction of $523,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,231,200. The trade was a 9.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.