Aigen Investment Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Aigen Investment Management LP grew its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 50.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Lazard were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $54.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.25 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on LAZ. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard 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.