AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

A number of research firms have commented on AB. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock opened at $36.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.81. AllianceBernstein has a 12 month low of $34.92 and a 12 month high of $44.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.29.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 26.05%. The firm had revenue of $887.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $907.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AB. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 17,664.8% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $140,102,000 after buying an additional 3,620,401 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,412,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,355,000 after acquiring an additional 624,270 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,154.2% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 336,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,861,000 after purchasing an additional 309,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,417,000 after purchasing an additional 202,451 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AllianceBernstein

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.