Bank of New York Mellon Corp Boosts Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 128.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 678,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 381,546 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Lazard were worth $34,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its position in shares of Lazard by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $48.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.86. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 4.09%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.33.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.