Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $2.51 Million Stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,763 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $2,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd raised its position in shares of Lazard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Down 0.8 %

LAZ opened at $57.96 on Tuesday. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $50.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.06.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard 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.