Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 16,132 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 29.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,398 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 16,132 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Lazard worth $3,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Lazard by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $119,299,000 after purchasing an additional 221,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,481,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,153,000 after purchasing an additional 180,244 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,929,435 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $93,693,000 after purchasing an additional 39,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lazard from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lazard from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, June 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Lazard Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $43.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.49 and its 200-day moving average is $46.97.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.10). Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The firm had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $707.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Lazard Company Profile

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.