MidFirst Bank Buys New Shares in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

MidFirst Bank bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 38,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock opened at $35.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.93. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12 month low of $35.59 and a 12 month high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $871.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.70 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 23.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 102.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AB. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.50 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $40.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.92.

About AllianceBernstein

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.