Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Lazard by 10.1% during the third 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd 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 Lazard by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $95,876,000 after acquiring an additional 90,152 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lazard by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $91,392,000 after acquiring an additional 15,151 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 worth $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 92,318 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $43.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.55.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.17.

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.