Voya Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC has increased its stake in Lazard, Inc. by 2.0%, owning approximately 1.08% of the company worth $52.7 million after acquiring an additional 23,346 shares in the 1st quarter.
• In the 1st quarter, institutional investors like Calton & Associates and Bessemer Group added new stakes, contributing to the overall institutional ownership of 54.80% in Lazard.
• Lazard is scheduled to announce its quarterly earnings soon, with analysts forecasting an EPS of 4.24 for the current year, supported by a recent return on equity of 34.33%.

Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,217,486 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 23,346 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.08% of Lazard worth $52,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter worth $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 worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,007 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Lazard by 861.2% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,057 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,759.25. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,617 shares of company stock valued at $4,274,413 in the last three months. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lazard Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of LAZ opened at $55.68 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 1.35.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Lazard's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.

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