Bokf Na Sells 35,247 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Bokf Na cut its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 185,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 35,247 shares during the period. Bokf Na’s holdings in Lazard were worth $8,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 245,205 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Lazard by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $101,153,000 after purchasing an additional 180,244 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,884,093 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $99,442,000 after purchasing an additional 192,008 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 20,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Lazard by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,620,282 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $85,522,000 after purchasing an additional 101,763 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total transaction of $155,275.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,829 shares in the company, valued at $465,707.73. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962 over the last 90 days. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.07 and its 200 day moving average is $48.91. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.67 and a 12 month high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $672.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.42 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Argus reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.56.

About Lazard

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.