Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 94 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameriprise Financial

In other Ameriprise Financial news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 4,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $539.07, for a total transaction of $2,499,128.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,237 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,249.59. The trade was a 39.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $518.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $507.00 to $542.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameriprise Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $517.13.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE AMP opened at $524.06 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $385.74 and a 1-year high of $582.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $479.32 and a 200-day moving average of $520.19. The company has a market cap of $49.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $4.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 9.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is an increase from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

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.