AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Price Target Raised to $39.00

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) had its price target lifted by Evercore ISI from $38.00 to $39.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

AB has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen raised 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. Barclays started coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an equal weight rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.75 to $41.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $41.00.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.1 %

AB opened at $34.69 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.88. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $35.67. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.24.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.19%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.84%.

Insider Activity

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $139,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at $903,935.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $445,673.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,700. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at $903,935.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $622,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 1.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 128,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 385.3% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 54,271 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 43,088 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 24.0% during the second quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 7.1% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 17,449 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Company 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.