Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 278,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 31,211 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Lazard were worth $10,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Lazard by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,844,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,973,000 after buying an additional 18,233 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Lazard by 368.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 97,412 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,390,000 after buying an additional 76,637 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 19,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,063,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Down 1.1 %

LAZ stock opened at $46.91 on Tuesday. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $50.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.05 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.37.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LAZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lazard news, 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 value of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736 over the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lazard

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.