MML Investors Services LLC Trims Holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 5.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,447 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 894 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,587 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 3.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 8.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AB stock opened at $37.26 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.69 and its 200 day moving average is $35.00. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 1-year low of $30.10 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is presently 88.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AB shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.75 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.40.

AllianceBernstein Company 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.