Short Interest in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Decreases By 9.8%

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) saw a large drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a drop of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 443,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gumer Alvero sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.05, for a total value of $1,199,816.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,409,437.45. This represents a 33.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 8,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.16, for a total value of $4,882,804.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,615,701.44. This represents a 57.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,715 shares of company stock worth $11,983,436 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameriprise Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 268.8% during the 2nd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 59 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 153.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 66 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 213.6% during the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 69 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of AMP traded down $8.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $541.86. 554,521 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 471,069. The stock has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $540.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.30. Ameriprise Financial has a 12 month low of $368.41 and a 12 month high of $577.00.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $490.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $485.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $535.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $475.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $487.67.

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.