Summit Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 5,450 AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Summit Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 115.4% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 1.2 %

AB stock opened at $35.71 on Friday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $30.57 and a 52 week high of $41.37. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.15.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 17.88%. On average, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 112.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AB. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.83.

AllianceBernstein Profile

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.