Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $21.57 Million Position in American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) by 61.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 105,218 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American International Group were worth $21,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIG. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American International Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American International Group by 303.3% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of American International Group by 123.8% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 452 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in American International Group in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American International Group in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American International Group

In other news, major shareholder International Group American sold 1,932,609 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.20, for a total transaction of $56,432,182.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 292,271,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,534,313,988.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American International Group from $80.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American International Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of American International Group from $81.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of American International Group in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American International Group from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American International Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.50.

American International Group Stock Up 2.6 %

AIG stock opened at $77.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.08. American International Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.02 and a twelve month high of $80.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $76.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.11. American International Group had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 10.54%. The business had revenue of $12.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American International Group, Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American International Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 19.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

American International Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This is a boost from American International Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. American International Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.88%.

About American International Group

American International Group, Inc offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Life and Retirement, and Other Operations. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers' compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance.