AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Shares Sold by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 47.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,550 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AB. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 198.7% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $139,480.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at $903,935.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $445,673.47. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $348,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at $903,935.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.95.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

AllianceBernstein stock opened at $34.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.24. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $25.83 and a fifty-two week high of $35.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.74.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.42 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 7.68%. AllianceBernstein’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.84%.

AllianceBernstein 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.