AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.67.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $205,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,923 shares in the company, valued at $861,609.14. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $196,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,626,981.60. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at $48,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AB stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.41. 121,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 441,924. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $30.57 and a 52 week high of $41.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.03.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 9.44%. The company had revenue of $838.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $859.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.92%. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.02%.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.