Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 10.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 916,519 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 110,100 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Lazard were worth $46,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its stake in Lazard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.38. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.25 and a 12 month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.