Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,519,785 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 42,455 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.33% of Lazard worth $326,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Lazard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,720,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,538,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $452,000. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 13,509 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $459,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.87. 974,296 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,293,177. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $42.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.16 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.56 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. Lazard's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -206.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Lazard from a "d+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.83.

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.