Barclays PLC Sells 90,838 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Barclays PLC reduced its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,770 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 90,838 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.09% of Lazard worth $5,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LAZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,962,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 31,967.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,886,000 after purchasing an additional 933,755 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 26.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,611,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Lazard by 128.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,935,000 after buying an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 188,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ stock traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $40.04. 120,906 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 948,629. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 1.27.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Lazard's revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Lazard's payout ratio is 69.69%.

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.