Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the January 15th total of 1,130,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 501,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO William F. Truscott sold 6,000 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.29, for a total value of $3,241,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,576,486.67. This trade represents a 29.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total value of $523,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,231,200. This represents a 9.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

NYSE:AMP opened at $548.84 on Thursday. Ameriprise Financial has a 52-week low of $385.74 and a 52-week high of $582.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $541.06 and a 200 day moving average of $508.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.36.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $9.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.16 by $0.20. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.35% and a net margin of 19.70%. On average, research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial will post 38.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $580.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.44.

About Ameriprise Financial

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.