LPL Financial LLC Purchases 16,849 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 371,209 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,849 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.32% of AllianceBernstein worth $13,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AB. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 143.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,710 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AB. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $38.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.75.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

AllianceBernstein stock opened at $39.07 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.88. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.25. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $30.57 and a fifty-two week high of $41.37.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 17.88%. As a group, analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.75%. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is presently 112.90%.

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.