Evolve Private Wealth LLC Acquires New Holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,992 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AB. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $913,378.41. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AB. Zacks Research raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Evercore set a $39.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock opened at $36.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.77. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $34.92 and a 52 week high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $907.67 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 6.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.9%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.04%.

About AllianceBernstein

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.