Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 174,199 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,900,615 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 174,199 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.70% of Lazard worth $80,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 59.5% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 590 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Lazard from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on Lazard in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Lazard Trading Up 3.3%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $42.02 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.43. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $43.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.49.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Lazard's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.04%.

Lazard 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LAZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.