Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 130,348 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Lazard, Inc. by 1.2%, holding approximately 10.66 million shares worth about $461.5 million, representing 9.45% of the company's stock.
• A number of institutional investors, including PNC Financial Services Group and Commerce Bank, have increased their holdings in Lazard during the first quarter, indicating continued investor interest.
• Lazard's quarterly earnings report surpassed estimates, with earnings per share of $0.52 and revenues of $796 million, reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 16.2%.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,658,164 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 130,348 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.45% of Lazard worth $461,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $251,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 9.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 287,574 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,452,000 after purchasing an additional 25,480 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 10.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 2.6% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,549 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Lazard by 5.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 166,415 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,205,000 after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lazard from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ traded up $0.2150 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $53.7850. The company's stock had a trading volume of 228,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,308. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $674.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.