Glenmede Trust Co. NA Invests $487,000 in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,918 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after acquiring an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,102,000. Finally, Amica Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,700,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $56.67 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $53.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.22. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.20 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 1.38. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

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.