Choreo LLC Decreases Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Choreo LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,259,000 after buying an additional 1,223,918 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,430,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $53.56 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.33. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.33.

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.