Northern Trust Corp Acquires 18,392 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Lazard, Inc. by 2.7% during the first quarter, owning approximately $30.83 million worth of shares by the end of the quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Lazard, with target prices ranging from $35.00 to $65.00, and a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $52.33.
• Lazard recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of approximately 68.97%.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 711,993 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 18,392 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.63% of Lazard worth $30,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,094,723 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $56,358,000 after buying an additional 220,375 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Lazard by 101.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,892 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 2,970 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lazard by 249.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 251,571 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,952,000 after buying an additional 179,511 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Lazard by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,176 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.00. The company had a trading volume of 52,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,960. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $53.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%.The firm's revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price target on Lazard and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.33.

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.