Choreo LLC Acquires New Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Choreo LLC bought a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,605 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 943.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,963,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $82,227,000 after buying an additional 1,775,664 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth about $65,650,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth about $47,063,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,768,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Lazard by 150.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 531,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,509,000 after purchasing an additional 319,384 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total value of $1,853,040.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.71.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock opened at $48.88 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $50.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of -139.66 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.73.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -571.43%.

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.