Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB)

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 12,405 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 4,444% compared to the average volume of 273 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “negative” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.83.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded up $1.79 on Monday, hitting $40.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 462,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,128. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.86. AllianceBernstein has a 1 year low of $32.28 and a 1 year high of $43.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.72.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $884.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.69 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 7.09%.AllianceBernstein’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 17,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 6,757 shares in the last quarter. Northland Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth about $385,000. Canton Hathaway LLC lifted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 12,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at about $386,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 190,134 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,527,000 after buying an additional 3,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.