7,008 Shares in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Acquired by Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,008 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AB. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AB stock opened at $37.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.25. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a one year low of $30.57 and a one year high of $41.37.

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

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.11%. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 112.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $38.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.75.

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.