Fred Alger Management LLC Purchases Shares of 6,977 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,715,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 102.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 780 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 3,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ameriprise Financial by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameriprise Financial news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total value of $523,120.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,231,200. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 4,636 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $539.07, for a total value of $2,499,128.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,901,249.59. This represents a 39.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMP. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $518.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $517.13.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 0.9%

AMP stock traded up $4.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $520.49. 393,159 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 492,750. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $476.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $520.04. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.74 and a 12-month high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.08 by $0.42. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.35% and a net margin of 19.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.39 earnings per share. Ameriprise Financial's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This is an increase from Ameriprise Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.75%.

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.