AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Shares Sold by Freestone Capital Holdings LLC

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lessened its stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,801 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 8.1% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in AllianceBernstein by 285.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 8,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter worth $786,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 8.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AB opened at $37.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.41. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12 month low of $30.57 and a 12 month high of $41.37.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 9.46%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.10%. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AB shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $38.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 target price on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.75.

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.