Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,334 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AB. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the third quarter worth about $85,508,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 130.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 926,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,885,000 after acquiring an additional 525,176 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 98.0% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,561,000 after acquiring an additional 248,055 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,183,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,683,000 after acquiring an additional 246,609 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock opened at $34.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.31. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52-week low of $25.83 and a 52-week high of $37.00.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $857.85 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 14.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.86%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is 132.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AB shares. TheStreet raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.44.

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.