AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating.
• Goldman Sachs has also cut their rating on AllianceBernstein from "buy" to "neutral," lowering the price target from $42.25 to $40.00.
• The firm's quarterly earnings report revealed a slight miss on EPS at $0.76, falling short of the consensus estimate by $0.01 alongside a 5.9% year-over-year revenue increase.

Zacks Research cut shares of AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on AllianceBernstein from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.33.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $37.88. 164,873 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 166,814. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.84. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $32.28 and a 1-year high of $43.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.35.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 8.35%.The company had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is presently 90.21%.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,727 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 37,388 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,387,000 after buying an additional 2,930 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 128.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 71,520 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,653,000 after buying an additional 40,191 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,597 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in AllianceBernstein by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 133,252 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.