Waddell & Associates LLC Takes Position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Waddell & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMP. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,420,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,171,360,000 after purchasing an additional 18,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $742,438,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,193,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $586,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,172 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 11.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 634,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,655,000 after purchasing an additional 65,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 18.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 589,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,626,000 after purchasing an additional 91,697 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMP has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $452.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $582.00 target price on Ameriprise Financial and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $460.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Ameriprise Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $543.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gerard P. Smyth sold 6,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.52, for a total transaction of $2,955,612.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,883,789.56. This represents a 50.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.83, for a total value of $558,996.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,934,729. This represents a 16.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AMP opened at $448.94 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $456.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $422.37 and a 1-year high of $550.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.16.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.05. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 62.88% and a net margin of 20.57%.The company had revenue of $4.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 42.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This is an increase from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is presently 16.91%.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.

Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.