Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 5,334 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Highland Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 100.6% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.44.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 1.6 %

AB stock opened at $34.76 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.31. The firm has a market cap 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. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $37.00.

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

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

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

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.