Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,298 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Lazard were worth $118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its holdings in Lazard by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock opened at $44.98 on Friday. 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. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.74 and its 200 day moving average is $51.76.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

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.