FIL Ltd Acquires Shares of 419,799 Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

FIL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 419,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $21,611,000. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.37% of Lazard at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Lazard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 37,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,390,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $35.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.73. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.83.

Lazard Company Profile

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.