Sowell Financial Services LLC Makes New $598,000 Investment in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 777 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 755 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 15,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,030,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $176,000. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $518.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameriprise Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $517.13.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Up 0.6%

Ameriprise Financial stock traded up $3.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $509.49. The company had a trading volume of 976,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,216. The stock has a market cap of $48.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $385.74 and a 1-year high of $582.05. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $496.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $512.76.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.08 by $0.42. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 68.93% and a net margin of 17.14%. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.39 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.75%.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to buyback $4.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Profile

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.