Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 6,868 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,203 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,868 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,587 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its position in AllianceBernstein by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 7,907 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,005 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in AllianceBernstein by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,122 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 115.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AB traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.09. The stock had a trading volume of 742,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,440. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.21. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a one year low of $30.57 and a one year high of $41.37.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change 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 presently 112.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $38.50 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price target on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.75.

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.