First Foundation Advisors Sells 36,150 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

First Foundation Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 59.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 36,150 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AB. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,587 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 208,120 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,261,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 3rd quarter valued at $322,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter worth $418,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,071 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of AB opened at $35.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.97. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 52 week low of $30.57 and a 52 week high of $41.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.88.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.79%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.33.

About AllianceBernstein

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.