Capital Research Global Investors Increases Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 221,214 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Lazard were worth $119,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 131.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,144 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,902,000 after buying an additional 163,983 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after buying an additional 18,444 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 167.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 62.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $45.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.40 and its 200 day moving average is $48.54. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $58.75. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Lazard news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,707.73. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962 in the last three months. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAZ. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.56.

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.