AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Short Interest Update

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 794,711 shares, a growth of 78.8% from the August 15th total of 444,401 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 310,645 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $35.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 442,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,191. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.91 and a 200 day moving average of $37.43. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $34.92 and a 1-year high of $44.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.79.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The business had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $907.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $913,378.41. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,971 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.8% in the first quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 9,048 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 5.6% in the second quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 50.0% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 36.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) is a global investment management company that provides investment products, research and related services to institutional investors, financial advisers, individual investors and private-wealth clients. Its offerings span equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other portfolio solutions.

The company serves clients through institutional and retail channels, including pension plans, governments, foundations, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals.