Ameriprise Financial Inc. Raises Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 98.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.14% of Lazard worth $66,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $59,962,000. Amundi grew its stake in Lazard by 31,967.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,886,000 after buying an additional 933,755 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after buying an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,611,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

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

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.36. 1,915,050 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 976,105. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.84. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week 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 $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 1.28.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Lazard's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is 69.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.