Raymond James & Associates Has $3.15 Million Stock Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB – Get Rating) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,809 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $3,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cowa LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth $27,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the second quarter worth $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the second quarter worth $31,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Northern Oak Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the second quarter worth $33,000. 11.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karl Sprules sold 77,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.76, for a total value of $2,984,520.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 68,309 shares in the company, valued at $2,647,656.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Mark R. Manley sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $204,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,607,973.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Karl Sprules sold 77,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.76, for a total value of $2,984,520.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 68,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,647,656.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.25.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 2.4 %

AB stock opened at $37.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.35. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 1-year low of $31.31 and a 1-year high of $51.05.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 28th. The asset manager reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $987.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 7.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 7th were issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 4th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.52%.

About AllianceBernstein

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AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is publicly owned investment manager. The firm also provides research services to its clients. It provides its services to investment companies, pension and profit sharing plans, banks and thrift institutions, trusts, estates, government agencies, charitable organizations, individuals, corporations, and other business entities.