Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank reduced its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 38.7%, selling 27,904 shares and retaining 44,283 shares valued at approximately $21.4 million.
• Multiple brokerage firms have recently adjusted their price targets for Ameriprise Financial, with Raymond James setting a target of $582.00, while Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating and set a target of $530.00.
• Ameriprise Financial has initiated a $4.5 billion share buyback program and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.60, reflecting a yield of 1.23%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 38.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,904 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $21,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 38,141 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,109,824 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.7% in 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 valued at $770,886,000 after acquiring an additional 23,655 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,268,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $675,344,000 after acquiring an additional 209,549 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 517,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $275,616,000 after acquiring an additional 27,914 shares during the period. 83.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:AMP traded down $15.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $503.07. The stock had a trading volume of 209,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,750. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $385.74 and a one year high of $582.05. The company has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $522.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $511.26.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.00 by $0.11. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 65.90%. The company had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.72 EPS. Ameriprise Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Ameriprise Financial's payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $595.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $462.00 to $530.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.