AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Short Interest Update

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the February 29th total of 1,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 352,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AB. Cowa LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the third quarter worth approximately $85,508,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 130.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 926,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,885,000 after buying an additional 525,176 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 98.0% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,561,000 after buying an additional 248,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,183,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,683,000 after buying an additional 246,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AB traded up $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.85. 91,278 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 341,835. AllianceBernstein has a twelve month low of $25.83 and a twelve month high of $37.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.37.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.14. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 14.88%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $857.85 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.84%. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 132.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AB shares. TheStreet raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.44.

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.