The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $1.91 Million in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 54,166 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,971 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 9,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,119 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

NYSE:AB opened at $36.04 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.94 and a 200-day moving average of $37.47. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a one year low of $34.92 and a one year high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $887.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $907.67 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 25.94%. AllianceBernstein’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.1%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is 97.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In related news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $913,378.41. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) is a global investment management company that provides investment products, research and related services to institutional investors, financial advisers, individual investors and private-wealth clients. Its offerings span equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other portfolio solutions.

The company serves clients through institutional and retail channels, including pension plans, governments, foundations, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals.