BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Makes New Investment in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,023 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 8,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 287,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,452,000 after acquiring an additional 25,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter worth about $771,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total transaction of $1,756,572.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $34,163.29. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock worth $6,030,986. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price target on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ opened at $49.60 on Thursday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.46 and its 200 day moving average is $49.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 35.02%. The company had revenue of $782.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.05%.

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.