US Bancorp DE Has $116,000 Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,853 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Lazard were worth $116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 28,113 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $1,647,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lazard by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,935,000 after buying an additional 381,546 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Lazard by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 184,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,522,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $44.98 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $50.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LAZ. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.17.

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.