AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 914,000 shares, a decline of 15.4% from the August 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 277,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of AB traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.60. 392,545 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 301,432. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.24. AllianceBernstein has a 52-week low of $25.83 and a 52-week high of $35.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.78.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $807.42 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 15.81%. AllianceBernstein’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.21%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.84%.

Insider Activity at AllianceBernstein

In related news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $445,673.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $348,700. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AllianceBernstein news, insider Christopher Hogbin sold 12,781 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $445,673.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.87, for a total transaction of $139,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $903,935.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AB. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 231.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 127,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,420,000 after buying an additional 88,875 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 189,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,887,000 after acquiring an additional 42,451 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 230,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,156,000 after purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the period. General American Investors Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $4,192,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 129,272 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,011,000 after purchasing an additional 48,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AB shares. Barclays assumed coverage on AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have 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 a consensus price target of $39.95.

About AllianceBernstein

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.