Focus Partners Wealth Boosts Stake in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Lazard, Inc. by 178.6% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.09% of the company, worth about $4.49 million.
• Insider selling was significant, with CEO Evan L. Russo selling 50,000 shares valued at approximately $2.85 million, reducing his position by 17.99%.
• Lazard reported a quarterly revenue of $796 million, surpassing estimates and demonstrating a 16.2% year-over-year increase.

Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 178.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,778 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 66,525 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth owned about 0.09% of Lazard worth $4,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 12.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 1.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,558 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,859 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,549 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 8,275 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $34,163.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $2,847,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,979,759.25. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,617 shares of company stock valued at $4,274,413 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Trading Down 1.8%

LAZ opened at $55.68 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.53. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.13 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%.Lazard's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.00.

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.

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