Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Catalyst Funds Management opened a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter, buying 29,007 shares valued at about $1.41 million.
• Lazard reported mixed quarterly results, with earnings of $0.42 per share and revenue of $672.98 million, both below analyst expectations, even as revenue rose 16.8% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $52.56, while several analysts recently cut targets or downgraded the shares.

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 29,007 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,722,504 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $90,914,000 after acquiring an additional 20,591 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth $4,744,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,920,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,210,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $590,120,000 after purchasing an additional 245,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lazard from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.56.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $48.09 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $58.75. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $44.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.68.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $672.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.42 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total transaction of $318,317.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $636,756.01. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962 over the last three months. 0.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lazard

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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