State of Alaska Department of Revenue Grows Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 166,415 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned approximately 0.15% of Lazard worth $7,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,211,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 20,907 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 57,095 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,680 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,350 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,376 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $45.37. 920,447 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.32. The firm's fifty day moving average is $42.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.37.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. Lazard's payout ratio is 69.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LAZ. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.33.

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.