AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Key Points

• Bank of America has increased the target price for AllianceBernstein's stock from $41.00 to $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.42% from its previous close.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with Barclays maintaining an "equal weight" rating and Goldman Sachs downgrading it to "neutral" with a target of $40.00.
• AllianceBernstein reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of $0.76, slightly below the consensus estimate of $0.77, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.9%.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Bank of America from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the asset manager's stock. Bank of America's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.42% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AB. Barclays increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of AB traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.70. 126,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,169. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $32.28 and a 52 week high of $43.30. The company's 50 day moving average is $39.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.82.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 18.63%. The business had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $853.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. AllianceBernstein's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. 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.

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