AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.50.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of AB stock opened at $41.09 on Tuesday. AllianceBernstein has a 12-month low of $32.28 and a 12-month high of $43.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.45 and its 200 day moving average is $39.90.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $884.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.69 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 7.09% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth about $193,757,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 51.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth approximately $20,144,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 380,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,590,000 after buying an additional 9,628 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,154.2% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 336,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,861,000 after acquiring an additional 309,673 shares during the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.