Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 3,620,401 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 17,664.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,620,401 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $140,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Payne Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the third quarter worth about $1,055,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,417,000 after acquiring an additional 202,451 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 165,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,378,000 after buying an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 25.6% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the third quarter worth about $316,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AB stock opened at $38.10 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.30 and a 200-day moving average of $39.42. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $35.59 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.83.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 23.11%. The company had revenue of $871.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.70 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.7%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is 102.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AB shares. Weiss Ratings raised AllianceBernstein from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research cut AllianceBernstein from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.25.

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.