Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB)

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 147,495 call options on the company. This is an increase of 14,753% compared to the typical volume of 993 call options.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

NYSE:AB opened at $40.77 on Friday. AllianceBernstein has a fifty-two week low of $32.28 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $957.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.45 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 6.62%.The company’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AB. Evercore increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.17.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.