Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Takes $6.41 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 152,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $500,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,179,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at $790,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $42,122,000. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,908,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus reduced their price objective on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $43.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.97. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 98.04%.

Lazard 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.