Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Holdings in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,563,208 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 47,404 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $75,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,144 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,902,000 after purchasing an additional 163,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 18,444 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 167.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 62.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total value of $318,317.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $636,756.01. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.67 and a 1 year high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.51 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.44.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.42 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.05%.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.