Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Makes New $6.29 Million Investment in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 119,218 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth approximately $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $46.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.75.

Lazard Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $39.86 on Thursday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.97.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 91.74%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lazard 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.