First Financial Corp IN Reduces Holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

First Financial Corp IN lowered its stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 20.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $53,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMP. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 70 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Ameriprise Financial stock opened at $510.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $517.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.74 and a 12 month high of $582.05. The company has a market cap of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.08 by $0.42. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.70% and a return on equity of 69.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $4.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This is a boost from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $518.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $517.13.

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.