Truist Financial Corp Sells 34,791 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 34,791 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Lazard were worth $417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $1,504,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,126,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,733,000. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,626,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $671,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock opened at $53.59 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $54.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -153.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.43%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 over the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.14.

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.