Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Buys 25,480 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 287,574 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 25,480 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of Lazard worth $12,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $59,962,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,611,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of Lazard stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.50. The stock had a trading volume of 209,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,629. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.15.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. Lazard's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Lazard's payout ratio is 69.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Lazard Company Profile

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.