AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Short Interest Update

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) saw a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 758,200 shares, a decline of 39.3% from the January 31st total of 1,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 603,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 1.1 %

AB stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.09. 742,712 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 741,440. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.31. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $30.57 and a 1-year high of $41.37. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.21.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 9.46%. Equities research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.03%. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 112.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AB. Creative Planning raised its position in AllianceBernstein by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 8.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,290 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 115.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,019.7% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 280,961 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,803,000 after acquiring an additional 255,868 shares during the period. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 285.7% in the third quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 8,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $38.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.75.

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.