JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 445,398 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,899,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 445,398 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 2.52% of AllianceBernstein worth $107,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AB. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth $61,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 19.8% in the fourth 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. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in AllianceBernstein by 143.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,710 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of AB opened at $39.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.25. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a 12-month low of $30.57 and a 12-month high of $41.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.88.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.75%. This is an increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AB shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $38.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price objective on AllianceBernstein in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.