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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 10,735 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $549.68, for a total transaction of $5,900,814.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,194,190.48. The trade was a 64.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gumer Alvero sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,409,437.45. The trade was a 33.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,715 shares of company stock valued at $11,983,436. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameriprise Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMP. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ameriprise Financial by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,005,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,964,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Ameriprise Financial stock traded up $5.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $551.61. 941,468 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,304. Ameriprise Financial has a 52-week low of $369.29 and a 52-week high of $577.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $53.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $548.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $489.76.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMP. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $565.00 to $560.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $535.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $494.89.

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.