17,439 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,439 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $64,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 960.8% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 3,036,128 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 980.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,069,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,019,036,000 after buying an additional 1,878,244 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $925,211,000. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $575,767,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Up 1.2%

AMP traded up $6.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $519.50. 448,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 610,517. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $422.37 and a one year high of $572.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $511.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.59.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $11.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.77 by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.94% and a net margin of 20.99%. Ameriprise Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.30%.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, September 29th that permits the company to buy back $5.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMP. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $595.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reduced their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $625.00 to $623.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $520.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $489.00 to $483.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $562.00 to $524.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $557.00.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial is a financial services company focused on helping individuals and institutions plan for and manage their finances. Its offerings include financial planning and investment advice, brokerage services, asset management, insurance and annuity products. The company traces its roots to Investors Syndicate, founded in Minneapolis in 1894. It became an independent public company in 2005 after separating from American Express, and remains headquartered in Minneapolis. Ameriprise serves clients primarily in the United States through its network of financial advisors.