Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 2,572 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,964 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of AllianceBernstein worth $6,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AB opened at $36.97 on Friday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $30.57 and a fifty-two week high of $41.37. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.98.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.05 dividend. 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 yield of 11.36%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AllianceBernstein 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.