First Merchants Corp Trims Stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

First Merchants Corp cut its holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 647 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $6,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $347,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 511 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,919 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. Finally, Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 58.1% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.12, for a total transaction of $523,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,231,200. This trade represents a 9.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO William F. Truscott sold 6,000 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.29, for a total value of $3,241,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,576,486.67. The trade was a 29.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AMP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $415.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered Ameriprise Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $580.00 to $570.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $510.44.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMP traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $546.48. The stock had a trading volume of 618,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 560,483. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $541.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $507.16. The stock has a market cap of $53.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $385.74 and a 1-year high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $9.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.16 by $0.20. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 69.35% and a net margin of 19.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Ameriprise Financial's payout ratio is 17.91%.

Ameriprise Financial 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.