Barclays Increases AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Price Target to $36.00

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on AB. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.75 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.20.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AB opened at $38.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.24. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $38.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.98.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 7.68%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. AllianceBernstein’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.39%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is 117.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. purchased 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.18 per share, for a total transaction of $17,090,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,066,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,824,522.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. purchased 500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.18 per share, with a total value of $17,090,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,066,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,824,522.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $139,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at $903,935.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 80.8% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in AllianceBernstein by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 740.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $272,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the second quarter worth approximately $622,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Company 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.