Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Grows Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 12.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Lazard by 1.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Lazard by 0.8% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $49.60 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $782.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.91 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 35.02%. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,979,759.25. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 over the last three months. 2.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

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.