14,099 Shares in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP Purchased by Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 14,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,942,000. Ameriprise Financial makes up about 2.7% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 7,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 74 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reduced their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $625.00 to $623.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $582.00 to $638.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $520.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $562.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.55.

Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

In related news, insider William Williams sold 8,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.35, for a total value of $4,428,063.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $3,656,793. The trade was a 54.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Walter Berman sold 11,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $548.95, for a total value of $6,045,037.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,079,060.55. This trade represents a 66.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,988 shares of company stock valued at $16,316,497. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AMP stock opened at $502.32 on Friday. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $422.37 and a 12-month high of $572.56. The company has a market capitalization of $45.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $534.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $497.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

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

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

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.