Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC cut its Ameriprise Financial stake by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,990 shares and leaving it with 102,419 shares valued at about $50.2 million.
• Ameriprise reported strong quarterly earnings of $11.26 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 9.7% year over year to $4.77 billion. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 42.63.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.70 per share from $1.60, implying a $6.80 annual payout and a 1.5% yield; the stock was trading around $442.04, down 0.8% on the day.

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,990 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Ameriprise Financial worth $50,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $742,438,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1,440.2% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 466,151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $228,572,000 after purchasing an additional 435,885 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 140.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 471,867 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,805,000 after purchasing an additional 275,659 shares during the period. Man Group plc raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 687.4% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 276,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,989,000 after purchasing an additional 241,665 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 78.2% during the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 463,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,652,000 after purchasing an additional 203,252 shares during the period. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.83, for a total transaction of $558,996.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,300 shares in the company, valued at $2,934,729. This represents a 16.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gerard P. Smyth sold 6,255 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.52, for a total value of $2,955,612.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $452.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ameriprise Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial set a $582.00 price objective on Ameriprise Financial and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on Ameriprise Financial in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $543.22.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AMP opened at $442.04 on Thursday. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $422.37 and a 52-week high of $550.18. The stock has a market cap of $39.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.16. The business's 50 day moving average is $455.69 and its 200 day moving average is $472.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.05. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 62.88% and a net margin of 20.57%.The company had revenue of $4.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.50 earnings per share. Ameriprise Financial's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 42.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

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

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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