Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 5,847,608 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. significantly increased its ownership in Lazard, acquiring an additional 5,847,608 shares, raising its stake by 2,324.4%.
• Lazard reported strong financial results, with a net margin of 9.96% and revenue growth of 16.2% year-over-year, surpassing analysts' estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.6%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 2,324.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,099,179 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 5,847,608 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 5.41% of Lazard worth $264,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the first quarter worth $28,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the first quarter worth $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 164.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in Lazard by 861.2% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,057 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.47. 1,003,010 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 852,080. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $51.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.53. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82 and a beta of 1.35. 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 announced 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 for 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%.Lazard's revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Lazard's payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

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.