Short Interest in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Declines By 7.6%

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a drop of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 1,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 452,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $485.00 to $476.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $565.00 to $560.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $440.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $535.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $494.89.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

NYSE:AMP traded up $5.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $551.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 941,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,304. The company has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. Ameriprise Financial has a 52-week low of $369.29 and a 52-week high of $577.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $548.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $489.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is currently 22.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gumer Alvero sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.05, for a total transaction of $1,199,816.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,669 shares in the company, valued at $2,409,437.45. This trade represents a 33.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 10,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $549.68, for a total value of $5,900,814.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,194,190.48. This represents a 64.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,715 shares of company stock worth $11,983,436 in the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,285,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,013,359,000 after acquiring an additional 358,699 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,222,943,000 after purchasing an additional 31,158 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 823,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,685,000 after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.9% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 458,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,894,000 after buying an additional 17,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 320,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,405,000 after buying an additional 4,968 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.