Regal Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Regal Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 388 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 231.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 127,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,420,000 after buying an additional 88,875 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 42,451 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 129,272 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,011,000 after purchasing an additional 48,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 115.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 70,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 37,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AB. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays initiated coverage on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.95.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AB stock opened at $34.73 on Thursday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 1 year low of $25.83 and a 1 year high of $35.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.86.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.18%. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 117.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. purchased 500,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.18 per share, with a total value of $17,090,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,066,838 shares in the company, valued at $104,824,522.84. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. purchased 500,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $34.18 per share, with a total value of $17,090,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 3,066,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,824,522.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at $903,935.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein 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.