CFC Planning Co LLC Takes $230,000 Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

CFC Planning Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,633 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AB. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.6% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 46,939 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter valued at about $594,000. Nicholas Wealth LLC. acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter worth approximately $892,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 380,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,590,000 after acquiring an additional 9,628 shares during the period. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AB shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on AllianceBernstein from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AB opened at $38.56 on Friday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12-month low of $32.28 and a 12-month high of $43.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.88.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $884.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $900.69 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 7.09% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.9%. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 113.16%.

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.