Aristides Capital LLC Buys 4,420 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Aristides Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,420 shares during the quarter. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 454,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,835 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 8,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Finally, Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 18,359 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 6,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $38.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.58.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AB opened at $36.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.66 and its 200-day moving average is $36.91. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a twelve month low of $30.57 and a twelve month high of $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.97.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 17.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.61%. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 112.90%.

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.