Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 75,407 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24,137 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $2,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in AllianceBernstein by 198.7% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AB traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $33.81. The stock had a trading volume of 134,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,773. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.24. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 1 year low of $25.83 and a 1 year high of $35.43.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 6.47%. The business had revenue of $884.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $900.60 million. On average, analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is presently 121.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AB has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America decreased their target price on AllianceBernstein from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. TheStreet upgraded AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.19.

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.