Ballew Advisors Inc Buys New Position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Ballew Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 8,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000. Ameriprise Financial makes up approximately 2.0% of Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the second quarter valued at $1,704,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 43.7% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 215,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,691,000 after purchasing an additional 65,400 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 817,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,920,000 after purchasing an additional 22,819 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 246,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,893,000 after purchasing an additional 23,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $485,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:AMP traded up $4.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $495.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 578,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 646,663. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $422.37 and a 52-week high of $572.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $544.14 and a 200-day moving average of $493.79.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.81 by $0.26. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 64.19% and a net margin of 20.24%.The company had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.11 EPS. Ameriprise Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is presently 16.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameriprise Financial news, EVP Deirdre Mcgraw sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.28, for a total value of $1,339,872.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,373 shares in the company, valued at $1,883,078.44. This represents a 41.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider William Williams sold 8,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.35, for a total transaction of $4,428,063.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,656,793. The trade was a 54.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,988 shares of company stock valued at $16,316,497. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Ameriprise Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $467.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $556.80.

Ameriprise Financial Profile

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company provides financial planning, investment advice, wealth management, retirement planning and insurance solutions to individuals, families, business owners and institutional clients.

Ameriprise serves clients primarily through a network of financial advisors and offers products and services that include brokerage and advisory accounts, mutual funds and other investments, retirement accounts, annuities, life and long-term-care insurance, banking products and personalized financial planning.