Custom Index Systems LLC Invests $470,000 in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $447,103,000 after buying an additional 152,857 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,844,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,973,000 after buying an additional 18,233 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 4.1% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,031,000 after buying an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in Lazard during the first quarter valued at about $65,650,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,063,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $47.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.33. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.54 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $50.26.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total value of $1,853,040.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.33.

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.