Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 3,620,401 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 17,664.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,620,401 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned approximately 4.00% of AllianceBernstein worth $140,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,938 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 5,023 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 11,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,007 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 41,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 9,340 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,417,000 after acquiring an additional 202,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 6,204 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AB shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded AllianceBernstein from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $39.50 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AB opened at $38.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.83. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12 month low of $35.59 and a 12 month high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $871.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.70 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 23.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is 102.15%.

AllianceBernstein 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.