AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Friday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the asset manager's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 2.28% from the stock's previous close.

AB has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AB stock opened at $40.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.10. AllianceBernstein has a fifty-two week low of $30.57 and a fifty-two week high of $41.86.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $838.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $859.36 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 18.27%. AllianceBernstein's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $196,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,626,981.60. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $205,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $861,609.14. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

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

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.

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