Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Has $11.66 Million Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. lifted its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,094 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 51,823 shares during the quarter. Lazard comprises about 1.0% of Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of Lazard worth $11,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock traded down $2.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.87. 1,049,734 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 978,258. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.58. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $698.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. Lazard's payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.33.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

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.