Northeast Financial Consultants Inc Sells 2,340 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,340 shares during the quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 426.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 273,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,248,000 after buying an additional 221,736 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.1% during the second quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. now owns 57,493 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,943,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the second quarter worth about $304,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 79.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,607 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.95.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 0.9 %

AB opened at $35.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.27 and a 200 day moving average of $33.84. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12 month low of $25.83 and a 12 month high of $35.67. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.24.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $807.42 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.84%.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

In related news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $903,935.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the 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 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 is available at this link. Also, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. bought 500,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $34.18 per share, with a total value of $17,090,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,066,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,824,522.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

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.