27,557 Shares in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Bought by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 27,557 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after acquiring an additional 37,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 348.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $887,000 after acquiring an additional 13,682 shares during the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 118.8% during the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 175,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,817,000 after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 5,770.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $52.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.06. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 75.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.