Zhang Financial LLC Raises Stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 27.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC's holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $2,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,801,913 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,556,683,000 after purchasing an additional 516,437 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,647,627 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,407,607,000 after buying an additional 38,141 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 49,248.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,114,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,023,461,000 after buying an additional 2,109,824 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,447,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $770,886,000 after buying an additional 23,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $689,272,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

NYSE:AMP traded down $14.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $501.26. The stock had a trading volume of 228,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,282. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $490.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $515.38. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $385.74 and a one year high of $582.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.08 by $0.42. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.35% and a net margin of 19.70%. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is a positive change 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 presently 21.75%.

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

Ameriprise Financial Company 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.