The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 54,166 AllianceBernstein shares worth approximately $1.9 million, representing about 0.06% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 19.25% of the stock.
• Analysts remain cautious: AllianceBernstein has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50, compared with a recent share price of $36.04.
• Second-quarter results slightly missed expectations, with EPS of $0.82 versus $0.83 forecast and revenue of $887.55 million versus $907.67 million expected. The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.82, equivalent to a 9.1% annualized yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 54,166 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,908,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of AllianceBernstein at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,293 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $420,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,297 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 3,331 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 56,019 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 11,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 5.0% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 38,339 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $39.00 price objective on AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised AllianceBernstein from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.50.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AB opened at $36.04 on Monday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $34.92 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The company's 50 day moving average price is $36.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $907.67 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 25.94%. AllianceBernstein's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 97.04%.

Insider Activity at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total value of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,573 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $913,378.41. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

AllianceBernstein Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. NYSE: AB is a global investment management company that provides investment products, research and related services to institutional investors, financial advisers, individual investors and private-wealth clients. Its offerings span equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other portfolio solutions.

The company serves clients through institutional and retail channels, including pension plans, governments, foundations, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals.

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