AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• AllianceBernstein has a consensus “Hold” rating from seven analysts: five recommend holding and two recommend buying. The average 12-month price target is $39.50 versus the stock’s $36.04 opening price.
• The company’s latest quarterly results slightly missed expectations, with EPS of $0.82 versus $0.83 expected and revenue of $887.55 million versus $907.67 million estimated. Revenue nevertheless increased 7.5% year over year.
• AllianceBernstein paid a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, equivalent to a 9.1% annualized yield; its payout ratio is high at 97.04%. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the stock, while an insider recently sold 5,000 shares.

Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $39.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 17,664.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $140,102,000 after buying an additional 3,620,401 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,412,548 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $54,355,000 after buying an additional 624,270 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $35,114,000 after acquiring an additional 312,878 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 499,202 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $19,209,000 after acquiring an additional 5,364 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 348,853 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,422,000 after acquiring an additional 12,351 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AB opened at $36.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $34.92 and a 1-year high of $44.11. The business's fifty day moving average price is $36.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.47.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The firm had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $907.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is presently 97.04%.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. NYSE: AB is a global investment management company that provides investment products, research and related services to institutional investors, financial advisers, individual investors and private-wealth clients. Its offerings span equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other portfolio solutions.

The company serves clients through institutional and retail channels, including pension plans, governments, foundations, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals.

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