Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 155,597 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,784,257 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 155,597 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.58% of Lazard worth $77,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $555,393,000 after purchasing an additional 81,559 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Lazard by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $228,045,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $59,962,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock traded up $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 608,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 965,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $44.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59 and a beta of 1.33. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Lazard's payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.33.

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.