AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 914,000 shares, a decline of 15.4% from the August 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 277,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.95.

Insider Activity at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $139,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $903,935.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other AllianceBernstein 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total value of $445,673.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $348,700. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AB. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 198.7% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.60. The company had a trading volume of 392,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,432. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.24. AllianceBernstein has a 12-month low of $25.83 and a 12-month high of $35.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.78.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $807.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.21%. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 117.84%.

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.