Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 37,966 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 12.8% in Q4, adding 37,966 shares to bring its total holdings to 334,786 shares valued at about $164.2 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 also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.70 per share from $1.60, which annualizes to $6.80 per share and yields about 1.4%.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 334,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,966 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.36% of Ameriprise Financial worth $164,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 605 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 5.4% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

AMP stock opened at $472.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.20. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $422.37 and a 12-month high of $550.18. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $454.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $473.69.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.05. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 62.88%. The business had revenue of $4.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.50 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 42.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Ameriprise Financial's payout ratio is presently 16.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameriprise Financial news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.83, for a total value of $558,996.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,934,729. The trade was a 16.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMP has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. 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, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $605.00 price objective (up from $580.00) on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $543.22.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.