D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 94.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,313 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 102.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 780 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Dean Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 3,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,833,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,484,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMP traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $508.62. 932,956 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 496,006. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $483.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $518.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.74 and a 12 month high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.35% and a net margin of 19.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $4.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $517.13.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

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.