AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in AllianceBernstein by 13.7%, now holding 150,142 shares valued at approximately $5.75 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in AllianceBernstein, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 19.25%.
• Despite reporting a missed earnings estimate of $0.76 per share, AllianceBernstein's revenue of $844.43 million for the quarter showed a 5.9% year-over-year increase.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,142 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 23,822 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.14% of AllianceBernstein worth $5,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AB. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth about $536,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 357,445 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,258,000 after acquiring an additional 26,577 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

NYSE:AB traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 106,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 167,441. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.84. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12 month low of $32.28 and a 12 month high of $43.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.25.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.64 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 8.35%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.21%.

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.