Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 54.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,854 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 7,710 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Lazard were worth $946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 164.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 119.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,028 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $54.01. 530,275 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 981,965. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $50.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.48.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $674.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LAZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price target on Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.50.

About Lazard

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.