American Century Companies Inc. Buys 234,253 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,873,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,253 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $97,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AB. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 851,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,423,000 after acquiring an additional 242,765 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth $23,660,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 13.1% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 189,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,887,000 after purchasing an additional 42,451 shares during the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:AB opened at $34.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.74. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a twelve month low of $25.83 and a twelve month high of $35.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.24.

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

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AB. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.