AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $853.64 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 8.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AB traded down $0.62 on Monday, hitting $42.26. The company had a trading volume of 189,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,471. AllianceBernstein has a 52-week low of $30.57 and a 52-week high of $43.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.82.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.19%. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio is 90.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America cut AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $861,609.14. This trade represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 39,877 shares in the company, 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. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in AllianceBernstein stock. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 43.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,375 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 8,304 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.