Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 21.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,051 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 15,350 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Lazard were worth $2,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth $251,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $947,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Lazard by 5.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 166,415 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,205,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $3,735,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Lazard from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.95. 1,099,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 968,210. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $45.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10 and a beta of 1.33. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

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.