Algert Global LLC Purchases Shares of 8,799 Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $447,103,000 after buying an additional 152,857 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,031,000 after purchasing an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,650,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,875,000 after purchasing an additional 44,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,370,000 after purchasing an additional 77,974 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,497 shares of company stock valued at $18,020,696 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $48.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of -138.13 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.01 and a 200-day moving average of $42.90. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $51.46.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.43%.

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.