Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, an increase of 29.2% from the January 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 516,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $514.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,231,200. The trade was a 9.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William F. Truscott sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.29, for a total transaction of $3,241,740.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,576,486.67. The trade was a 29.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,636 shares of company stock worth $6,263,989. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth $689,272,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,801,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,556,683,000 after purchasing an additional 516,437 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 79,679.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 371,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,943,000 after buying an additional 371,306 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 429.0% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 417,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,103,000 after buying an additional 338,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,268,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,344,000 after buying an additional 209,549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AMP traded down $2.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $506.64. 88,867 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 457,250. Ameriprise Financial has a 12-month low of $385.74 and a 12-month high of $582.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $538.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $516.69. 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 capitalization of $48.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.33.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $9.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.91%.

Ameriprise Financial Company 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.