HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 6,398 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. $AMP

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 15.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,398 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $15,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMP. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 43.7% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 215,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,691,000 after purchasing an additional 65,400 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial in the second quarter worth $273,000. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 0.9% during the second quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 2,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co lifted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.8% during the second quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 126,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,213,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $244,000. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $636.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $467.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deirdre Davey Mcgraw sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.28, for a total value of $1,339,872.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,883,078.44. This represents a 41.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 11,012 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $548.95, for a total transaction of $6,045,037.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,079,060.55. The trade was a 66.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,988 shares of company stock worth $16,316,497. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Down 0.1%

Ameriprise Financial stock opened at $570.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $507.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $480.30. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $422.37 and a 12 month high of $572.56. The company has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $11.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.81 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.87 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 64.19% and a net margin of 20.24%.The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 46.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is 16.40%.

Ameriprise Financial Profile

Ameriprise Financial, Inc is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm provides a range of advice-based wealth management, asset management and insurance products to individual and institutional clients. Its business model centers on delivering financial planning and investment advice through a network of financial advisors alongside proprietary product offerings designed to meet retirement, protection and accumulation needs.

Core products and services include comprehensive financial planning and advisory services, managed investment portfolios, retirement planning solutions, annuities and life insurance products.