Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) Shares Down 5.6% After Insider Selling

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)’s share price dropped 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $514.17 and last traded at $508.8650. Approximately 235,360 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 601,609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $539.11.

Specifically, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 7,000 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.22, for a total value of $3,809,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,609 shares in the company, valued at $3,052,529.98. The trade was a 55.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $484.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $568.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective (up from $580.00) on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $555.67.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $501.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $491.83. The firm has a market cap of $47.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.33 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $4.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 63.04%. Ameriprise Financial’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMP. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 71.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 53 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 56 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 83.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ameriprise Financial

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.