683 Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Key Points

• 683 Capital Management LLC has acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P., purchasing 525,825 shares valued at approximately $20.1 million, making it the firm's 14th largest holding.
• Several other institutional investors, including CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp and Invesco Ltd., have also increased their stakes in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter.
• Despite a missed earnings estimate for the latest quarter, AllianceBernstein's stock has an average rating of "Hold" with a price target of $39.67 according to analysts.

683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 525,825 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $20,144,000. AllianceBernstein makes up 1.4% of 683 Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. 683 Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.48% of AllianceBernstein as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AB. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,727 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 2,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,721 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:AB traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.81. 214,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 160,942. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $40.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.30. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a one year low of $32.28 and a one year high of $43.30.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $844.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.64 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 18.63%. The business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.8%. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is currently 90.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "mixed" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.33.

AllianceBernstein 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.