Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 12.4%, now holding 4,544 shares worth around $2.2 million.
• Ameriprise Financial reported a $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $9.00, with revenue of $4.49 billion.
• The company announced a $4.5 billion share repurchase plan, which allows the repurchase of up to 9.9% of its shares, signaling management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 646 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $2,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMP. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 777 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,627 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth $290,000. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in Ameriprise Financial by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in Ameriprise Financial by 263.5% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,585 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:AMP traded up $10.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $516.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 371,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,731. The firm has a market cap of $48.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $396.14 and a 1 year high of $582.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $521.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $508.40.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.00 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 65.90% and a net margin of 18.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current year.

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

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Ameriprise Financial's payout ratio is 19.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ameriprise Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $462.00 to $530.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $423.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. William Blair downgraded Ameriprise Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $595.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $534.71.

Ameriprise Financial 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.