AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 351,727 shares, an increase of 264.7% from the January 15th total of 96,445 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 604,948 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days. Based on an average trading volume of 604,948 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 17,664.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $140,102,000 after acquiring an additional 3,620,401 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in AllianceBernstein by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,412,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,355,000 after purchasing an additional 624,270 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 499,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $19,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,154.2% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 336,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,861,000 after purchasing an additional 309,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AB shares. Barclays boosted their target price on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.17.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 1.1%

AB stock traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $40.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 369,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,893. AllianceBernstein has a 1 year low of $32.28 and a 1 year high of $44.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.71.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 6.62%.The company had revenue of $957.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.4%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.67%.

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.