Tradition Wealth Management LLC Buys New Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,590 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,393,000 after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Lazard by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $228,045,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.65. 2,016,519 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,796. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Lazard's payout ratio is 75.19%.

Lazard Profile

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.