Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Short Interest Up 29.2% in February

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the January 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 516,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameriprise Financial news, CEO William F. Truscott sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.29, for a total transaction of $3,241,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,576,486.67. This trade represents a 29.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total transaction of $523,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,231,200. This represents a 9.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,636 shares of company stock valued at $6,263,989 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $514.89.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

NYSE AMP traded down $34.35 on Tuesday, hitting $497.58. The stock had a trading volume of 853,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,768. Ameriprise Financial has a one year low of $385.74 and a one year high of $582.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $47.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $538.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $516.74.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $9.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.16 by $0.20. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 69.35%. On average, analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.91%.

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.