Private Advisor Group LLC Trims Stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,053 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 376 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 851,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,423,000 after purchasing an additional 242,765 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth about $23,660,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 230,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,156,000 after buying an additional 88,000 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 13.1% in the first quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 215,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,481,000 after buying an additional 24,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 189,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,887,000 after buying an additional 42,451 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $903,935.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $445,673.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $903,935.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AB opened at $34.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.06 and a 200-day moving average of $33.74. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52-week low of $25.83 and a 52-week high of $35.67.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.42 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 7.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.95.

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.