Teza Capital Management LLC Has $341,000 Stake in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Teza Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Lazard, Inc. by 52.3% during the first quarter, owning 7,872 shares worth approximately $341,000 after selling 8,636 shares.
• Analysts remain optimistic, with Citigroup and JMP Securities giving Lazard an "outperform" rating and a price target of $60.00, while other firms adjusted their targets upwards, indicating a positive outlook.
• Lazard reported earnings exceeding expectations, with $0.52 earnings per share and revenue of $796 million for the quarter, reflecting a 16.2% year-over-year growth.

Teza Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 52.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,872 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,636 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC's holdings in Lazard were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,176 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $755,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,709 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 2,109 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Lazard by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 56,288 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LAZ. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, August 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.68. 686,864 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,080,526. The stock's fifty day moving average is $53.91 and its 200 day moving average is $46.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 1.35. 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.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

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

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.