Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Purchased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 1,165.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 176,491 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 162,549 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Lazard worth $6,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LAZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $29,191,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 791,158 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $24,740,000 after buying an additional 574,379 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,019,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,603,000 after buying an additional 466,301 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,750,853 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $121,565,000 after buying an additional 462,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,560,437 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $295,335,000 after buying an additional 439,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a "d+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.00.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other 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 value of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,696,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,389. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.77 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.82 and a 12-month high of $42.24. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.89.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The firm had revenue of $825.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $666.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -206.18%.

Lazard Company 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.