AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Stock Crosses Below 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)’s stock price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $37.48 and traded as low as $35.90. AllianceBernstein shares last traded at $36.04, with a volume of 264,641 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AB. Weiss Ratings lowered AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 6.60%.The company had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $907.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at $913,378.41. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AB. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) is a global investment management company that provides investment products, research and related services to institutional investors, financial advisers, individual investors and private-wealth clients. Its offerings span equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other portfolio solutions.

The company serves clients through institutional and retail channels, including pension plans, governments, foundations, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals.