Centiva Capital LP Purchases Shares of 9,600 Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Centiva Capital LP acquired 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 acquired 9,600 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring 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 $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Down 1.0 %

Lazard stock opened at $42.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.06 and a 200 day moving average of $48.89. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. The company had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lazard

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.

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