Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 66.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,031 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25,704 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Lazard were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LAZ. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.29.

Lazard Stock Up 1.5 %

LAZ opened at $49.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.26 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.77. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $51.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total value of $1,853,040.33. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at $77,836,857.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736 in the last quarter. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.