Brokerages Set AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Target Price at $42.17

Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research 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 analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.1667.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KW Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. KW Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares during the period. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,491,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $1,190,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 208,029 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,005,000 after purchasing an additional 11,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AB opened at $39.20 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.64. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $32.28 and a 1-year high of $44.11. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.87.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 21.17%. The company had revenue of $957.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $956.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. AllianceBernstein’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.8%. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.00%.

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.