AllianceBernstein’s (AB) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI restated their buy rating on shares of AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage currently has a $38.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock.

AB has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $39.95.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.3 %

AllianceBernstein stock opened at $34.69 on Tuesday. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $25.83 and a 52 week high of $35.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.24.

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

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.19%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.84%.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $445,673.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $348,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. acquired 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.18 per share, for a total transaction of $17,090,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,066,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,824,522.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AB. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,873,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $97,090,000 after purchasing an additional 234,253 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter worth approximately $23,660,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 426.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 273,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 221,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 230,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,156,000 after purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

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.