Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Lazard, buying 1,650,918 shares worth about $80.2 million and ending with roughly 1.46% ownership of the asset manager.
• Recent analyst sentiment on Lazard is mixed: the stock has a Hold consensus rating, with an average price target of $52.56, after several firms issued upgrades, downgrades, or adjusted targets.
• Lazard reported Q1 earnings of $0.42 per share, missing expectations, while revenue rose 16.8% year over year; the company also paid a $0.50 quarterly dividend, implying a 4.3% yield.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,650,918 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $80,169,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.46% of Lazard at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 590 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 53.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LAZ. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Lazard from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Lazard from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total value of $318,317.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $636,756.01. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962. Insiders own 0.95% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $46.40 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.31 and a 200-day moving average of $48.54. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.The company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 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 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard's payout ratio is 79.05%.

Lazard Profile

Lazard Ltd. NYSE: LAZ is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.

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