AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Sees Large Volume Increase

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 225,329 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 309,744 shares.The stock last traded at $31.41 and had previously closed at $34.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AB has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.19.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.62.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.42 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 7.68%. AllianceBernstein’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.64%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,700. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth $23,660,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 851,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,423,000 after buying an additional 242,765 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 2,811.0% in the 4th quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 222,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,917,000 after acquiring an additional 215,270 shares during the period. General American Investors Co. Inc. acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at $4,192,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth $4,477,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.