Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Short Interest Down 6.7% in September

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) saw a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,260,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the September 15th total of 1,350,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 472,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Ameriprise Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:AMP traded up $1.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $519.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,007. Ameriprise Financial has a twelve month low of $306.63 and a twelve month high of $520.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $452.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $435.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $51.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.35.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $8.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.53 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 18.64% and a return on equity of 73.83%. Ameriprise Financial’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial will post 34.92 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMP shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $490.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $485.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $444.00 to $440.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $500.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $473.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameriprise Financial news, VP William Davies sold 8,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.07, for a total transaction of $3,846,009.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,834,881.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMP. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $775,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 118,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,693 shares during the period. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,836,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

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.