Maverick Capital Ltd. Makes New $1.04 Million Investment in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 24,404 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at $2,153,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $369,000. Callodine Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $13,102,000. Inceptionr LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 10,056 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capula Management Ltd purchased a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,340,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE LAZ opened at $42.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.67 and a 12 month high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.13 and a 200-day moving average of $46.63.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lazard from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

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.