24,404 Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Purchased by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 24,404 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,153,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Callodine Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Lazard during the first quarter worth $13,102,000. Inceptionr LLC raised its position in Lazard by 34.7% in the first quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 10,056 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capula Management Ltd purchased a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth $2,340,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $42.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.63.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.Lazard's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is 98.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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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