Aristides Capital LLC Acquires 4,420 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Aristides Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,420 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,899,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $107,552,000 after buying an additional 445,398 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,695,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,683,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 939,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,852,000 after acquiring an additional 61,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in AllianceBernstein by 175.5% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 71,287 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 45,413 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price objective on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $38.50 in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.58.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of AB opened at $36.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.91. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12-month low of $30.57 and a 12-month high of $41.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.97.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 17.88%. On average, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 112.90%.

AllianceBernstein Company 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.