Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases 2,680 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 49.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,152 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Lazard were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LAZ. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 12.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Lazard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,549 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Lazard in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Up 0.2%

LAZ opened at $50.50 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.97 and a twelve month high of $58.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 35.02%. The company had revenue of $770.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Lazard’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,979,759.25. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

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.