Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Makes New $476,000 Investment in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,240 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LAZ shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded down $1.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.00. 530,022 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,997. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The business's fifty day moving average is $40.97 and its 200-day moving average is $48.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 1.28. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.69%.

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.