Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 1,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 467,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Ameriprise Financial news, CFO Walter Stanley Berman sold 8,655 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.16, for a total transaction of $4,882,804.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,409 shares in the company, valued at $3,615,701.44. This trade represents a 57.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gumer Alvero sold 2,325 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.05, for a total transaction of $1,199,816.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,409,437.45. The trade was a 33.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,715 shares of company stock valued at $11,983,436. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,285,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,013,359,000 after acquiring an additional 358,699 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 position in Ameriprise Financial by 10.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,129,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $482,588,000 after purchasing an additional 110,319 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 504,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $215,584,000 after buying an additional 131,844 shares in the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $440.00 to $502.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $535.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $490.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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 company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $485.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $487.67.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 0.4 %

AMP stock traded up $1.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $532.43. 268,951 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 471,803. Ameriprise Financial has a twelve month low of $368.41 and a twelve month high of $577.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $545.75 and its 200 day moving average is $481.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.34.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Ameriprise Financial's payout ratio is 22.73%.

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.