Capula Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 55,093 Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Capula Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 55,093 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring 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 increased its holdings 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 worth $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 18,444 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 167.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 62.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Lazard from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Lazard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lazard this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Lazard reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.12, well below Wall Street expectations, and Reuters said net profit plunged 91% year over year as a higher tax rate and softer financial advisory revenue weighed on results. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s financial advisory segment came under pressure, reinforcing concerns that deal-making activity remains uneven and limiting near-term earnings momentum. Seeking Alpha article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted that Lazard is cutting more than 80 managing director roles and revamping its advisory business, suggesting management is still working through a major restructuring effort rather than showing a clean growth story. Zawya article
• Neutral Sentiment: At the same time, Lazard reiterated its long-term growth targets, including a plan for Lazard CL to reach $500 million of revenue by 2027 and $10 million per managing director by 2028, which may support longer-term investor confidence but does not offset the weak quarter immediately. Seeking Alpha article
• Neutral Sentiment: Lazard also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, yielding about 4.6%, which may help income-focused shareholders but is not enough to outweigh the earnings disappointment. PR Newswire article

Lazard Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $43.01 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $786.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 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.