Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 24,137 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 24.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,407 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24,137 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.07% of AllianceBernstein worth $2,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AB. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth $42,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 198.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.81. 134,312 shares of the stock traded hands, 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 fifty day simple moving average of $33.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.24. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52-week low of $25.83 and a 52-week high of $35.43.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.47% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $884.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $900.60 million. On average, research analysts predict 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 issued 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 121.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.