Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 25.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,209 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,766 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of Lazard worth $4,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Lazard Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $44.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.16.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

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.