Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Shares Sold by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. by 3.5% in the first quarter, holding 21,958 shares valued at approximately $10.63 million after selling 808 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Fjarde AP Fonden and National Pension Service, increased their stakes in Ameriprise Financial during the same period.
• Ameriprise Financial reported better-than-expected earnings of $9.11 per share and announced a $4.50 billion share buyback program, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 808 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $10,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the first quarter worth $36,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 148.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 100.0% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 98 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of AMP traded down $10.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $502.75. 424,794 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 435,926. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.24. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $396.14 and a fifty-two week high of $582.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $521.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $507.19.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AMP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. William Blair cut Ameriprise Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered Ameriprise Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $462.00 to $530.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $423.00 to $434.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ameriprise Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $534.71.

About Ameriprise Financial

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.