Baugh & Associates LLC Purchases 118,786 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Key Points

• Baugh & Associates LLC purchased 118,786 Ameriprise Financial shares worth approximately $58.5 million, making AMP its largest holding and representing about 20% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with an average price target of $572.55, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Ameriprise reported quarterly EPS of $11.07, exceeding expectations, and authorized a $5.5 billion share-repurchase plan; it also pays an annualized dividend of $6.80 per share.

Baugh & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 118,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $58,484,000. Ameriprise Financial makes up about 20.0% of Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Baugh & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Ameriprise Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1,279.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,365,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,069,493,000 after purchasing an additional 58,772,775 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 960.8% in the 2nd 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 980.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,069,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,019,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,244 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $925,211,000. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $575,767,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMP shares. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $570.00 price objective (down from $616.00) on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $489.00 to $483.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Ameriprise Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $520.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $595.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $572.55.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Down 0.3%

AMP stock opened at $500.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.16. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $422.37 and a 52-week high of $572.56. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $533.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $497.36.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.81 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $4.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.24% and a return on equity of 64.19%. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.14 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

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

Ameriprise Financial declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 29th that allows the company to buy back $5.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ameriprise Financial

In other news, EVP Deirdre Mcgraw sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.28, for a total transaction of $1,339,872.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,373 shares in the company, valued at $1,883,078.44. The trade was a 41.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Dawn Brockman sold 472 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.93, for a total transaction of $263,814.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 713 shares in the company, valued at $398,517.09. This trade represents a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,988 shares of company stock valued at $16,316,497. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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