The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 26,577 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 357,445 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 26,577 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.31% of AllianceBernstein worth $13,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,110,304 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $115,361,000 after purchasing an additional 496,923 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,899,762 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $107,552,000 after acquiring an additional 445,398 shares during the period. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth about $8,695,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,307,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,683,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.54. 62,311 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 441,969. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $37.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.28. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $30.57 and a 52 week high of $41.86.

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. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The business had revenue of $838.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $859.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. AllianceBernstein's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is presently 86.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut AllianceBernstein from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.67.

Insider Activity

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now owns 20,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $861,609.14. The trade was a 19.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.