Short Interest in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Decreases By 9.8%

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a drop of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 443,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 10,735 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $549.68, for a total transaction of $5,900,814.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,194,190.48. This trade represents a 64.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gumer Alvero sold 2,325 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $516.05, for a total transaction of $1,199,816.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,669 shares in the company, valued at $2,409,437.45. The trade was a 33.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,715 shares of company stock valued at $11,983,436. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMP. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,222,943,000 after purchasing an additional 31,158 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 10.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,129,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,588,000 after acquiring an additional 110,319 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 823,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,685,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 35.4% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 504,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,584,000 after acquiring an additional 131,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 458,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,894,000 after buying an additional 17,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $440.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $485.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $490.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $475.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $535.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $487.67.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

AMP stock traded down $8.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $541.86. 554,521 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 471,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $540.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $473.30. Ameriprise Financial has a one year low of $368.41 and a one year high of $577.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.34.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

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.