Highland Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Key Points

• Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. by 112.5% during the second quarter, acquiring 18,482 additional shares to bring its total to 34,915 shares valued at approximately $1.426 million.
• AllianceBernstein reported $0.76 earnings per share for its latest quarter, falling short of analyst estimates by $0.01, while its revenue increased by 5.9% year-over-year to $844.43 million.
• The firm recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $3.04 and a yield of 7.9%, with a payout ratio of 90.21%.

Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 112.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,915 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 18,482 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AB. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $193,757,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $35,114,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares in the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter worth $20,144,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 325,018 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,451,000 after buying an additional 101,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company's stock.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of AB opened at $38.45 on Monday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $32.28 and a 52 week high of $43.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.38 and a 200-day moving average of $39.44.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 8.35%.The firm had revenue of $844.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AB shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on AllianceBernstein from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research lowered AllianceBernstein from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.25 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.67.

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.

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