Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Purchases New Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec purchased 365,995 Lazard shares worth approximately $15.35 million, representing about 0.33% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 54.8% of Lazard.
• CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares for $5.44 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his ownership by 32.39%.
• Lazard’s analyst consensus remains “Hold”, with a $50.38 price target. The company missed quarterly EPS estimates but reported revenue growth, while maintaining a $0.50 quarterly dividend yielding about 4.6%.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 365,995 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $15,350,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned about 0.33% of Lazard as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 131.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,144 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 27.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $32,902,000 after buying an additional 163,983 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 8.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,318,000 after buying an additional 18,444 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 167.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,252,000 after buying an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 62.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed 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 on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus dropped their price target 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lazard from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $43.70 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $42.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. 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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

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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