International Private Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $354,000 in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• International Private Wealth Advisors LLC has invested $354,000 in Lazard, Inc. by acquiring 7,372 shares, indicating increasing interest in the asset management firm.
• Brokerages have raised target prices for Lazard, with Wells Fargo increasing it to **$50** and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to **$65**, reflecting positive analyst sentiment.
• CEO **Peter Richard Orszag** recently sold over 32,000 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million, reducing his ownership by **15.05%**.

International Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,372 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,144 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Lazard by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 56,288 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,898,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,993 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 219,844 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,318,000 after buying an additional 48,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Lazard by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,454 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 5,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986. Corporate insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,978,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,626. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $54.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 2.53. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lazard's payout ratio is 68.97%.

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.