First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 566,051 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 335.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.65% of Lazard worth $37,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Lazard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,129 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.82. 782,843 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 951,836. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.27. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.49.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. This represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

About Lazard

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.