Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 5,723 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,525,508 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,723 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.33% of Lazard worth $366,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Lazard by 188.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 69,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 22.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 245,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,602,000 after purchasing an additional 44,976 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,590,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,474,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,538,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at $80,001,454.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,001,454.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lazard from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Lazard Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of LAZ opened at $36.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -104.11 and a beta of 1.42. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $42.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.27% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The business had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.41%.

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.