Bank of New York Mellon Corp Takes Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 752,606 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $31,564,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.68% of Lazard as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Lazard by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $427,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,869 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $119,299,000 after buying an additional 221,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $114,481,000 after buying an additional 6,429 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Lazard by 9.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,229 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $101,153,000 after purchasing an additional 180,244 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,929,435 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $93,693,000 after purchasing an additional 39,901 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $43.70 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.67 and a 12 month high of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 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. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.15.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was 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 $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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