Franklin Resources Inc. Takes $5.13 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 99,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,128,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.09% of Lazard at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lazard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 37,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its position in shares of Lazard by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities cut their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Down 9.0 %

LAZ opened at $35.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.74 and a 200 day moving average of $50.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.27.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

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.