321,289 Shares in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Acquired by CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 321,289 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $12,309,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 0.29% of AllianceBernstein at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth approximately $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AB stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,578. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 1-year low of $30.57 and a 1-year high of $41.86. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $40.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.23.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $838.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $859.36 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 down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.02%.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $205,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $196,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 39,877 shares in the company, valued at $1,626,981.60. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.