The largest shareholder in troubled CIT Group Inc. (CIT) is a group of mutual funds run by Ameriprise Financial Inc. (AMP), which bought nearly all of its 11% stake in the past 10 months.

That Ameriprise subsidiary, RiverSource Investments LLC, bought 12.7 million shares between March 31 and June 30, bringing its stake to 44.3 million, according to a July 10 regulatory filing.

RiverSource isn't alone; other institutional holders, according to regulatory filings in recent months, include Fidelity Investments, Brandes Investment Partners LP, Vanguard Group and Wellington Management. Another investor is hedge-fund manager Edward S. Lampert of ESL Investments, who owns a controlling stake in Sears Holding Corp. (SHLD). The filings don't disclose more recent trading, and these investors could have sold CIT shares since reporting their positions.

At this point, for many investors in CIT, holding on and hoping for a miracle might be an option. In a sense, the stock, recently at $1.21 a share, has become a glorified call option; it traded above $11 as recently as September and above $50 as recently as July 2007. Some owners may now believe that, with the stock price so close to $1, the reward of it rising again is a lot greater than the risk of zero.

As fears grow that business lender CIT might file for bankruptcy protection, its stock price is plunging, trading down about 20% in Monday action. The shares are down 73% since Dec. 31, and more than 80% in the past year.

A look at regulatory filings suggests that, compared with some other institutional investors, RiverSource actually bought on the low side. A RiverSource portfolio manager didn't return an email message seeking comment.

The CIT bulls haven't completely disappeared. Standard & Poor's equity analyst Matthew Albrecht said Monday he's keeping a "hold" recommendation on the stock, albeit with a lower target price of $1.50.

"We think the firm could see its approval to issue FDIC-backed debt granted, may be able to transfer certain assets to its bank subsidiary with government approval, or may seek to divest assets, but execution risks remain," Albrecht said in a note.

Lampert's ESL Investments owned 15.4 million CIT shares as of March 31, according to filings. All of his shares were bought in 2008. CIT shares started 2008 at $24.03, and ended at $4.54.

While RiverSource's 44.3 million shares are as of June 30, many other institutional holders reported their positions as of the end of the first quarter, like ESL. Securities and Exchange Commission rules require certain investors to disclose stock positions within 45 days after the end of a quarter. For holders of 5% or more of stock, like RiverSource, the rules are more stringent.

Some of CIT's holders have in the past been adept in their trading of the stock. Fidelity, for one, bought millions of shares in the $20s earlier this decade, and sold much of it in the $30s and $40s. Fidelity then got back into the stock in 2008, mostly when its price was in single digits. Reached for comment, Fidelity Portfolio Manager Joel Tillinghast referred a reporter to Fidelity's media relations representative, but said, "I can not add much value on CIT as its future is in the hands of the government."

Brandes also showed some adept trading in the stock.

But, according to filings, some other holders like Vanguard have only on a few occasions lowered their CIT exposure at higher prices. Many of Vanguard's funds owning CIT shares are index funds that buy and hold all the stocks in an index. Other index investors that are sizable owners of CIT shares include Barclays Global Investors, a unit of Barclays PLC (BCS) being acquired by BlackRock Inc. (BLK), and State Street Global Advisors, a unit of State Street Corp. (STT).

-By Joseph Checkler, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2152; joseph.checkler@dowjones.com