AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 42.7%, ending the first quarter with 1,734,767 shares valued at approximately $66.46 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on AllianceBernstein, with Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock to a neutral rating and lowering the price target, while Evercore ISI raised its target, indicating mixed sentiments in the market.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 7.5%, despite having a high dividend payout ratio of 90.21%.

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 42.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,734,767 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,291,335 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.57% of AllianceBernstein worth $66,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 380,837 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,590,000 after buying an additional 9,628 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 357,445 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,258,000 after buying an additional 26,577 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 325,018 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,451,000 after buying an additional 101,041 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter worth about $12,309,000. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth about $10,300,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AB traded up $0.6550 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.1850. 151,560 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 182,281. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.81. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a twelve month low of $32.28 and a twelve month high of $43.30. The business's 50-day moving average price is $40.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.09.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 90.21%.

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.