AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Price Target Raised to $41.00

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $40.75 to $41.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

AB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays assumed coverage on AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a buy rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $41.00.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE AB opened at $34.71 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.88. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.24. AllianceBernstein has a twelve month low of $25.83 and a twelve month high of $35.67.

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

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 117.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In related news, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. acquired 500,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $445,673.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,700. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. bought 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.18 per share, for a total transaction of $17,090,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,066,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,824,522.84. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AB. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 1,354.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the second quarter worth about $51,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.