Amundi Buys 1,326,370 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in Lazard, Inc. by 141.6%, acquiring an additional 1,326,370 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 2.01% of the company.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their shares in Lazard, with Price T Rowe Associates increasing its stake by 2,324.4% to over 6 million shares.
• Lazard announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $2.00 and a yield of 3.5%.

Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 141.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,263,046 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,326,370 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 2.01% of Lazard worth $97,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Lazard by 2,324.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,099,179 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $264,096,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847,608 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 42.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,644,323 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $71,199,000 after purchasing an additional 487,574 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth about $10,998,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,140,435 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $58,710,000 after buying an additional 221,783 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,979,759.25. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,617 shares of company stock valued at $4,274,413 in the last quarter. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $56.73. The company had a trading volume of 994,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 748,637. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm's 50 day moving average is $53.91 and its 200-day moving average is $46.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 1.35.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.13 million. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.