140,842 Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Purchased by Corient Private Wealth LP

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LP acquired 140,842 Lazard shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $790,000 and representing about 0.13% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.8% of Lazard.
• Lazard’s CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares for $5.44 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his position by 32.39%.
• Lazard reported quarterly EPS of $0.12, below the $0.34 consensus estimate, despite revenue of $786.47 million exceeding expectations. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.50, equivalent to a 4.4% annualized yield, while analysts’ consensus rating remains “Hold.”

Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 140,842 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $790,000. Corient Private Wealth LP owned about 0.13% of Lazard at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 53.5% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,195.84. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Up 1.6%

Lazard stock opened at $45.04 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $43.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.77. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.84.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.29 million. Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Lazard's payout ratio is 98.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LAZ. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.38.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd. NYSE: LAZ is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.

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