AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.1667.

AB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “neutral” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 17,664.8% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $140,102,000 after acquiring an additional 3,620,401 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,412,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,355,000 after purchasing an additional 624,270 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 51.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,114,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 1,154.2% in the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 336,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,861,000 after purchasing an additional 309,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,417,000 after purchasing an additional 202,451 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AB opened at $38.75 on Thursday. AllianceBernstein has a 12 month low of $32.28 and a 12 month high of $44.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.87.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $957.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $956.45 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 6.62%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.00%.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.