Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 38,220 Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 38,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,856,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,722,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $90,914,000 after buying an additional 20,591 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,744,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,920,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,210,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,120,000 after buying an additional 245,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total value of $318,317.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,756.01. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $45.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.97. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.67 and a 52-week high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th 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 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the topic of several research reports. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research cut Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Lazard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lazard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic acquisition — Lazard agreed to buy Campbell Lutyens to create “Lazard CL,” expanding its private-capital advisory capabilities and positioning the firm as a leader in fund placement and secondary advisory, which could boost long-term fee pool and cross‑sell opportunities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Asset-management strength — Adjusted net revenue for Asset Management rose 17% YoY with positive net flows of $9 billion; Lazard said the asset-management business drove much of the profit increase this quarter. This supports recurring-fee growth and margin resilience. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend — Board declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend (4.4% yield on current levels), payable May 22; a healthy yield can support shareholder returns and investor sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: GAAP vs. adjusted metrics — Lazard reported first-quarter net revenue of $757M and GAAP net income of $101M ($0.91 per share), while adjusted net revenue and the EPS metric investors tracked differ; reconcilement between GAAP and adjusted figures may explain mixed market reaction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings and revenue missed estimates — Reported EPS of $0.42 missed consensus ~$0.52 and revenue of $673M missed estimates near $707M; missing both top- and bottom-line expectations is the primary catalyst for the stock decline as it shows near-term operating pressure vs. Street models. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market focus and volume — Shares moved lower on the earnings miss with above-average volume, suggesting investors are prioritizing near-term earnings shortfalls and uncertainty over integration/timing of growth from the acquisition. Article Title

Lazard Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.