Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,831,689 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,689 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 1.62% of Lazard worth $94,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $555,393,000 after purchasing an additional 81,559 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $118,294,000 after buying an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% in 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 buying an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,876,000 after buying an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,962,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Up 5.2 %

NYSE LAZ traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 894,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,906. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $43.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.86. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.97 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's payout ratio is 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.83.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lazard Company 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.