Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Acquired by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 3.5% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 1.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 25,944 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LAZ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $54.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.45. The company has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.68%.

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.