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

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 997,200 shares, a growth of 12.3% from the December 15th total of 887,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 364,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AB. FMR LLC grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 6.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,613,381 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $91,181,000 after acquiring an additional 154,039 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 12.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,454,364 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $85,633,000 after acquiring an additional 265,844 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 878,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,645,000 after purchasing an additional 95,847 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 645,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,528,000 after purchasing an additional 239,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 413,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $14,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AB traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.22. 621,566 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 395,595. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $30.57 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.46.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.06%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $40.75 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.40.

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.