AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, a decrease of 17.6% from the April 30th total of 1,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 667,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AB shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.67.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

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

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

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

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AB traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.06. 211,390 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,276. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average is $38.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.66. AllianceBernstein has a one year low of $30.57 and a one year high of $41.86.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $838.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $859.36 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 9.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 86.02%.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

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.