25,008 Shares in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Bought by Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,008 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $354,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Lazard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 150.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 531,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,509,000 after purchasing an additional 319,384 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 254.2% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 377,693 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,144,000 after purchasing an additional 271,054 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 101,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,522,000 after purchasing an additional 13,500 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” 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 raised their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.29.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $77,836,857.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of LAZ opened at $50.43 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.41. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $51.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.09 and a beta of 1.39.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -571.43%.

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.