Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Purchases 8,842 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 5.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,513 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,842 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.15% of AllianceBernstein worth $5,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AB. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,016,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 851,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,423,000 after purchasing an additional 242,765 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,295 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 3,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 86,824 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,694,000 after buying an additional 16,478 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AB opened at $34.75 on Tuesday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12 month low of $25.83 and a 12 month high of $35.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $34.18 and its 200 day moving average is $33.82. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.24.

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

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.17%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.