Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Evercore ISI raised its price target for AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) from $44.00 to $46.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.78% from its current price with an "outperform" rating.
• Other analysts have differing views, with Bank of America downgrading the stock to "neutral" with a lowered price target of $38.00, while Barclays set a target of $40.00 with an "equal weight" rating.
• AllianceBernstein recently reported $0.76 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.01, with a 5.9% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The stock's recent trading price reached $43.08, and it has seen significant insider selling, indicating a possible shift in investor sentiment.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $44.00 to $46.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective indicates a potential upside of 6.78% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.33.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE AB traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.08. 9,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 524,568. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $40.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.75. AllianceBernstein has a fifty-two week low of $30.57 and a fifty-two week high of $43.20.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $844.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $853.64 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In related news, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $196,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 39,877 shares in the company, valued at $1,626,981.60. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director owned 20,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $861,609.14. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 10,177 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 7,792 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 37,022 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 29,600 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company's stock.

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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