Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Lowers Stake in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lowered its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aua Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Aua Capital Management LLC now owns 604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Francis Sharpe, Jr. sold 1,500 shares of Ameriprise Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $438.07, for a total transaction of $657,105.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,818,770. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AMP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $500.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $400.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Ameriprise Financial in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $400.00 to $437.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameriprise Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $456.22.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of Ameriprise Financial stock opened at $427.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $306.63 and a 12-month high of $446.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $428.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $410.32.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $8.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.15 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 75.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 34.95 EPS for the current year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a positive change from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Ameriprise Financial’s payout ratio is presently 20.15%.

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.