NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ Takes Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,198 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AB. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,417,000 after purchasing an additional 202,451 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 165,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,378,000 after purchasing an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 114.6% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,211 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 39,636 shares in the last quarter. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth $1,491,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at $1,190,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total value of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at $913,378.41. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AB. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock opened at $36.68 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.80. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52-week low of $34.92 and a 52-week high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $887.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $907.67 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 6.60%.AllianceBernstein’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.9%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.04%.

AllianceBernstein Profile

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.