First Merchants Corp Sells 3,324 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp cut its Ameriprise Financial stake by 30.1% in Q1, selling 3,324 shares and leaving it with 7,719 shares valued at about $3.43 million.
• Ameriprise reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $11.26 EPS versus the $10.21 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 9.7% year over year to $4.77 billion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.70 per share from $1.60, implying an annualized payout of $6.80 and a yield of about 1.5%.

First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 30.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,324 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $3,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMP. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 199,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,388,000 after purchasing an additional 10,782 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,471,000. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 272,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 2,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 3,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 150,606 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,848,000 after buying an additional 16,433 shares during the period. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AMP opened at $467.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $460.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $473.40. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $422.37 and a 12-month high of $550.18.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.05. The firm had revenue of $4.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 62.88% and a net margin of 20.57%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.50 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 42.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.91%.

Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.83, for a total transaction of $558,996.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,934,729. This represents a 16.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gerard P. Smyth sold 6,255 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.52, for a total transaction of $2,955,612.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,103 shares in the company, valued at $2,883,789.56. This represents a 50.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMP shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $452.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $460.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $543.22.

About Ameriprise Financial

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.

Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.

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