PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Invests $10.51 Million in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Key Points

• PBU, the Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators, disclosed a new position in Ameriprise Financial, buying 21,440 shares valued at about $10.51 million in the fourth quarter.
• Other institutional investors have also been active in AMP, and institutions and hedge funds now own 83.95% of the company’s stock. Several insiders, including a director and an EVP, recently sold shares.
• Ameriprise reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.70 per share, giving the stock an annualized yield of about 1.5%.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 21,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,513,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,420,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,171,360,000 after purchasing an additional 18,879 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $742,438,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,193,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $586,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,172 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 11.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 634,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,655,000 after purchasing an additional 65,687 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 18.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 589,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,626,000 after purchasing an additional 91,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $452.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $460.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $582.00 target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameriprise Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $543.22.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

AMP stock opened at $455.89 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.16. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $422.37 and a 12-month high of $550.18. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $455.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.49.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.05. The business had revenue of $4.77 billion for 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 was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 42.63 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

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

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

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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