Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Shares Acquired by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,268,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 209,549 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.31% of Ameriprise Financial worth $675,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

AMP stock traded up $13.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $484.28. 341,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 490,974. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.74 and a 52-week high of $582.05. 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 company has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $481.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $521.33.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.08 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.35% and a net margin of 19.70%. Ameriprise Financial's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.39 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $4.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, CEO William F. Truscott sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.29, for a total transaction of $3,241,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,576,486.67. This represents a 29.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,636 shares of company stock worth $6,263,989. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $580.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $518.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $509.67.

About Ameriprise Financial

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.