Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Acquired by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake 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 worth $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 381,546 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,809,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Up 0.9 %

LAZ stock opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.69. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased 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 issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

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.