AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Given New $36.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) had its target price trimmed by TD Cowen from $38.00 to $36.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on AB. Evercore set a $39.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.38.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 0.6%

AB stock opened at $34.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.18 and a 200 day moving average of $37.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.79. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $34.58 and a 52 week high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $887.55 million for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.5%. This is a negative change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is 97.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,378.41. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Almitas Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,381,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,908,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth about $522,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 114.6% during 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. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,491,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) is a global investment management and research firm serving institutional investors, retail clients and private-wealth customers. The company provides investment strategies and advisory services across public and private markets, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and sustainable investing.

AllianceBernstein’s offerings include actively managed mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and private-market solutions.