Traders Buy Large Volume of AllianceBernstein Call Options (NYSE:AB)

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 147,495 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 14,753% compared to the average volume of 993 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.17.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AB stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $40.77. The stock had a trading volume of 449,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,510. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.70. AllianceBernstein has a fifty-two week low of $32.28 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 21.17%. The firm had revenue of $957.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.4%. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,114,000 after purchasing an additional 312,878 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 43.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 27,375 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 8,304 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 12.8% during the second quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 1.4% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 149,922 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,121,000 after buying an additional 2,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

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.