Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE decreased its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 55.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,853 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Lazard were worth $116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 128.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,430,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,634,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $44.98 on Monday. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.78.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.17.

Lazard Company 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.