Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Invests $268,000 in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Lazard Stock Up 1.4 %

LAZ stock opened at $39.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.64. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

Lazard 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.