Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays lowered AllianceBernstein’s price target from $39 to $37 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying 8.94% potential upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: AllianceBernstein has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $37.88, with recent target cuts from TD Cowen and downgrades from other firms.
• The company’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations, with EPS of $0.82 versus $0.83 expected and revenue of $887.55 million versus $907.67 million forecast, despite 7.5% year-over-year revenue growth.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $39.00 to $37.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Barclays's price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.94% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on AllianceBernstein from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AllianceBernstein from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.88.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 0.7%

AllianceBernstein stock opened at $33.97 on Wednesday. AllianceBernstein has a twelve month low of $33.95 and a twelve month high of $44.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.79.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 6.60%. The company had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $907.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,573 shares of the company's stock, valued at $913,378.41. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 156,695 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,867,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 115,126 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,263 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 114.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,211 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 39,636 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 56,019 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,973,000 after buying an additional 11,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parrish Capital LLC grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Parrish Capital LLC now owns 52,152 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 3,304 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. NYSE: AB is a global investment management and research firm serving institutional investors, retail clients and private-wealth customers. The company provides investment strategies and advisory services across public and private markets, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and sustainable investing.

AllianceBernstein's offerings include actively managed mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and private-market solutions.

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