Keystone Financial Group Inc. Acquires 21,269 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 21,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,472,000. Ameriprise Financial comprises about 5.3% of Keystone Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 1,279.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,365,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,069,493,000 after acquiring an additional 58,772,775 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 960.8% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 3,036,128 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the third quarter valued at about $925,211,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the third quarter worth about $575,767,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the second quarter worth about $320,948,000. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

AMP stock opened at $493.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $422.37 and a 52 week high of $572.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $537.16 and its 200 day moving average is $496.54. The firm has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.16.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.81 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.87 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.11 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, September 29th that authorizes the company to buy back $5.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dawn Brockman sold 472 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.93, for a total value of $263,814.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $398,517.09. The trade was a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deirdre Mcgraw sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.28, for a total value of $1,339,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,883,078.44. This trade represents a 41.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,988 shares of company stock valued at $16,316,497 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMP shares. Argus upped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $534.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $595.00 in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on 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 dropped their target price on 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, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $645.00 to $638.00 in a research note on Monday. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameriprise Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.55.

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.