VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 18,528 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems ET Al reduced its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,528 shares and leaving it with 33,400 shares valued at about $16.4 million.
• Ameriprise reported strong quarterly earnings of $11.26 per share, beating analyst estimates, while revenue rose 9.7% year over year to $4.77 billion.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.70 per share, and analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $543.22.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,528 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $16,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,420,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,171,360,000 after acquiring an additional 18,879 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,193,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $586,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,172 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 966,163 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $474,628,000 after purchasing an additional 219,080 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 634,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $311,655,000 after purchasing an additional 65,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 589,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,626,000 after purchasing an additional 91,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMP shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $452.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $582.00 price objective on Ameriprise Financial and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $543.22.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of AMP stock opened at $468.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $454.33 and a 200 day moving average of $473.74. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $422.37 and a 1 year high of $550.18.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.05. The company had revenue of $4.77 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 42.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ameriprise Financial's payout ratio is presently 16.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $465.83, for a total value of $558,996.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,934,729. The trade was a 16.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameriprise Financial 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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