Howard Financial Services LTD. Acquires New Holdings in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Howard Financial Services LTD. bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 493 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 24,159 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,863,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co raised its position in Ameriprise Financial by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $943,000. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,029,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

In other news, insider Gumer Alvero sold 2,325 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.05, for a total value of $1,199,816.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 10,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,194,190.48. This represents a 64.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,715 shares of company stock worth $11,983,436. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMP shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $535.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $580.00 to $570.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $485.00 to $476.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $565.00 to $560.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $440.00 to $502.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $494.89.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AMP traded up $5.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $551.61. The company had a trading volume of 941,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,304. The stock has a market cap of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $548.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $489.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $369.29 and a 52 week high of $577.00.

Ameriprise Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Ameriprise Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.