Kovack Advisors Inc. Takes Position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AB. Herold Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 15,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 18,975 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Karpas Strategies LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Karpas Strategies LLC now owns 18,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 34,540 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 1.1 %

AB stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $33.89. 126,356 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 177,785. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.24. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12-month low of $25.83 and a 12-month high of $35.43.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 6.47%. The company had revenue of $884.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.60 million. Research analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. TheStreet raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.19.

AllianceBernstein 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.