Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $1.89 Million Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 43,605 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 17,111 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Lazard were worth $1,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Lazard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,129 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 95,707 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,927,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 8,275 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,242,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,344. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.14.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.33.

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.