AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.95 and last traded at $36.75, with a volume of 12296 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AB. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.75 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.20.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.47 and its 200 day moving average is $33.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.24.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.42 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. Analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.59%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.84%.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

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

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 736 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Karpas Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.2% during the first quarter. Karpas Strategies LLC now owns 18,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 3.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 1.6% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 29,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 8.1% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. 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.