Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Takes $58,000 Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 3.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 127,211 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,861,000 after buying an additional 4,482 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 30,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 148,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 28.0% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 11,832 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 2,588 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the topic of several research reports. TheStreet raised AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.19.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AB traded up $0.48 on Monday, hitting $34.05. 391,208 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 344,940. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.72. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $25.83 and a 52 week high of $35.84.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.47% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $857.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 121.16%.

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.