Inceptionr LLC Buys New Stake in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,585 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 122.1% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research raised Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.13.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $43.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.71. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The company had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.