Nuveen LLC Purchases Shares of 253,995 Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Lazard, Inc., purchasing 253,995 shares valued at approximately $10.998 million, representing about 0.23% ownership of the company.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Lazard, with Victory Capital Management reporting a 42.2% lift and Ameriprise Financial indicating a 98.7% increase in their holdings.
• Lazard reported quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenues reaching $796 million, up 16.2% from the previous year.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 253,995 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $10,998,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Lazard as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 42.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,644,323 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $71,199,000 after buying an additional 487,574 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 6.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,279 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $55,566,000 after purchasing an additional 82,878 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,140,435 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $58,710,000 after purchasing an additional 221,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,094,723 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $56,358,000 after purchasing an additional 220,375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 report on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. 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 report on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $55.7660 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $51.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.54. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 1.35.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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