Bank of America Cuts AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Price Target to $51.00

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) had its target price reduced by Bank of America from $54.00 to $51.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

AB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen restated a buy rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI restated a buy rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, TheStreet raised AllianceBernstein from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $41.19.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

AllianceBernstein stock opened at $33.10 on Monday. AllianceBernstein has a one year low of $25.83 and a one year high of $35.84. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.75.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 3 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.82%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter valued at $85,508,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 851,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,423,000 after purchasing an additional 242,765 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2,811.0% during the fourth quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 222,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,917,000 after acquiring an additional 215,270 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the third quarter valued at about $4,328,000. Finally, General American Investors Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,192,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.