Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $10.30 Million in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 277,697 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $10,300,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 0.24% of AllianceBernstein at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company's stock.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 89,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,071. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $30.57 and a 52 week high of $41.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.85.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $838.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $859.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 86.02%.

Insider Activity at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $205,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $861,609.14. This trade represents a 19.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AB. StockNews.com downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.67.

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.