Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 627 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,876,000 after buying an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $91,392,000 after acquiring an additional 15,151 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,156,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 92,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lazard Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $47.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $61.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. As a group, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

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.