Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 2,000 Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in AllianceBernstein were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,873,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $97,090,000 after buying an additional 234,253 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 878,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,645,000 after purchasing an additional 95,847 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,019.7% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 280,961 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,803,000 after purchasing an additional 255,868 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 426.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 273,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 221,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 215,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,481,000 after purchasing an additional 24,951 shares in the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.75 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on AllianceBernstein to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AllianceBernstein news, insider Equitable Holdings, Inc. acquired 500,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.18 per share, with a total value of $17,090,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 3,066,838 shares in the company, valued at $104,824,522.84. This trade represents a 19.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of AB stock opened at $37.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.58. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $38.96.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is currently 88.25%.

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.