AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $42.10 and last traded at $41.88, with a volume of 75934 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AB shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays upped their price target on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.67.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $40.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.75.

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

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $196,860.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 39,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,626,981.60. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $205,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $861,609.14. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter valued at $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.