Whitener Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Whitener Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 113,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $56,039,000. Ameriprise Financial accounts for about 10.2% of Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 4,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the third quarter valued at $12,132,000. Saxony Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the third quarter valued at $2,857,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 980.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,069,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,019,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of AMP stock opened at $502.32 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $534.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $497.33. 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 $45.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.81 by $0.26. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The business had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.70 dividend. 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 is currently 16.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Walter Berman sold 11,012 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $548.95, for a total transaction of $6,045,037.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,609 shares in the company, valued at $3,079,060.55. This represents a 66.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider William Williams sold 8,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.35, for a total transaction of $4,428,063.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,656,793. This trade represents a 54.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,988 shares of company stock valued at $16,316,497. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AMP shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $534.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $570.00 target price (down from $616.00) on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $518.00 to $561.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $572.55.

Ameriprise Financial 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.