Virtu Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 30,931 AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in AllianceBernstein by 17,664.8% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $140,102,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620,401 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,412,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,355,000 after purchasing an additional 624,270 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 51.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,154.2% in the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 336,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,861,000 after buying an additional 309,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,417,000 after buying an additional 202,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AB opened at $35.95 on Friday. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $35.59 and a fifty-two week high of $44.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.93. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.80.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The asset manager reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $871.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $894.70 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 23.11% and a net margin of 6.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is presently 102.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AB shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Monday, June 8th. Evercore set a $40.00 price objective on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $39.50 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered AllianceBernstein from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.92.

AllianceBernstein Profile

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.