Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP Shares Newly Bought by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 172,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,072,000. Ameriprise Financial accounts for approximately 2.1% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 1,279.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,365,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,069,493,000 after acquiring an additional 58,772,775 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 960.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,352,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,537,817,000 after purchasing an additional 3,036,128 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $925,211,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $575,767,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $320,948,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AMP opened at $493.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $422.37 and a 1 year high of $572.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $537.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.54. The firm has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.16.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.81 by $0.26. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 29th that permits the company to repurchase $5.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is currently 16.40%.

Insider Activity at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, EVP Deirdre Mcgraw sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.28, for a total transaction of $1,339,872.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,883,078.44. This represents a 41.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider William Williams sold 8,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.35, for a total value of $4,428,063.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,656,793. The trade was a 54.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,988 shares of company stock valued at $16,316,497. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $489.00 to $483.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Evercore lowered their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $625.00 to $623.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $570.00 price target (down from $616.00) on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.55.

Ameriprise Financial Company 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.