TD Private Client Wealth LLC Has $3.74 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• TD Private Client Wealth LLC has boosted its shares in Lazard, Inc. by 8.3%, now holding a position valued at $3.74 million.
• Lazard reported a significant quarterly revenue increase of 16.2%, reaching $796 million, while earnings per share exceeded estimates at $0.52.
• The company recently announced a $0.50 quarterly dividend, translating to an annualized yield of 3.6% for investors.

TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,839 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,933 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC owned 0.07% of Lazard worth $3,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 57.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 164.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 170.8% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,771 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $55.00 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $54.67 and its 200-day moving average is $47.31. 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 has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 1.35. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $61.14.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on shares of Lazard and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,092 shares of company stock worth $6,030,986 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

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.

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