Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Purchased by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,415 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.15% of Lazard worth $7,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,393,000 after buying an additional 81,559 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Lazard by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $228,045,000 after acquiring an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $118,294,000 after acquiring an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after acquiring an additional 90,152 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $43.57 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.67. 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 (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 return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on LAZ. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Lazard 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.

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