Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 306.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,000 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 37,704 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Lazard were worth $2,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $947,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard by 128.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,935,000 after purchasing an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,809,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,735,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.53. 83,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 952,824. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.16. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.83.

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.