Amundi Cuts Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Amundi cut its Lazard stake by 90.4% in the second quarter, selling 140,316 shares and retaining 14,908 shares worth approximately $625,000. Institutional investors overall own 54.8% of Lazard.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with four Buy, four Hold and three Sell ratings; the consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $50.38.
• Lazard reported quarterly EPS of $0.12, below the $0.34 consensus estimate, despite revenue exceeding expectations at $786.47 million. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a 5.2% yield.

Amundi reduced its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 90.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,908 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 140,316 shares during the period. Amundi's holdings in Lazard were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $379,092,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Lazard by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $119,299,000 after purchasing an additional 221,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $114,481,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Lazard by 10.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,900,615 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $80,713,000 after purchasing an additional 174,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,760,637 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $85,497,000 after purchasing an additional 38,133 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 24th. Four investment 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $5,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.95% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ opened at $38.56 on Wednesday. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.78 and a twelve month high of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.26.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. Lazard's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. NYSE: LAZ is a global financial advisory and asset management firm. The company provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, capital structure, restructuring, strategic matters and other corporate finance activities. Lazard also offers asset management services for institutions, financial intermediaries, private clients and other investors.

Lazard traces its origins to 1848, when the Lazard brothers established a business in New Orleans. The firm later expanded to San Francisco and Paris, developing an international platform that serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other key global markets.

The company operates through financial advisory and asset management businesses, with teams serving corporations, governments, institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

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