Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 20,300 Shares of ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE:MAN - Free Report) by 166.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,497 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,300 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of ManpowerGroup worth $1,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of ManpowerGroup by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,886 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,387,000 after purchasing an additional 59,821 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of ManpowerGroup by 1,373.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 53,473 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 49,845 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of ManpowerGroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ManpowerGroup by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 28,144 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ManpowerGroup by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. 98.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MAN shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on ManpowerGroup from $63.00 to $57.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on ManpowerGroup from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on ManpowerGroup from $65.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut ManpowerGroup from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised ManpowerGroup from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ManpowerGroup presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.50.

ManpowerGroup Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of MAN stock traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $42.09. 578,535 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 668,103. ManpowerGroup Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.10 and a 52 week high of $78.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.09. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $47.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.39.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The business services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.08). ManpowerGroup had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $698.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that ManpowerGroup Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

ManpowerGroup Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a yield of 3.5%. ManpowerGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.61%.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup Inc provides workforce solutions and services worldwide. The company offers recruitment services, including permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment of professionals, as well as administrative and industrial positions under the Manpower and Experis brands. It also offers various assessment services; training and development services; career and talent management; and outsourcing services related to human resources functions primarily in the areas of large-scale recruiting and workforce-intensive initiatives.