Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 245,205 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.92% of Lazard worth $590,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,652 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Uhlmann Price Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $935,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth $295,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Lazard in a report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, December 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.13.

Lazard Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of LAZ opened at $50.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 2.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.03. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.32 million. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 91.74%.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.