AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Price Target Raised to $40.00 at Barclays

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Barclays from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Barclays's price target suggests a potential downside of 2.76% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AB. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered shares of 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 research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.00.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

NYSE:AB traded up $0.25 on Wednesday, reaching $41.14. 166,572 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 437,010. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.55. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $30.57 and a 52 week high of $41.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.82.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The company had revenue of $838.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $859.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. AllianceBernstein's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $196,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 39,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,626,981.60. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $861,609.14. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first 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.