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

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, an increase of 146.9% from the March 15th total of 931,700 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 846,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 107,730 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,599 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 182,724 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,000,000 after purchasing an additional 4,338 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 28.0% in the first quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,856 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 12,225 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in AllianceBernstein by 360.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,913 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth about $201,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

NYSE:AB traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.97. 358,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 443,999. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $37.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.97. AllianceBernstein has a fifty-two week low of $30.57 and a fifty-two week high of $41.37.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) 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%. On average, analysts predict that AllianceBernstein 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 issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.36%. AllianceBernstein's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AB. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America cut AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.