Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Has $5.20 Million Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. grew its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 149,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,036 shares during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $5,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LAZ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in Lazard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Lazard by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $39.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 977,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,176,167. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $42.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.57 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.47% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Company 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.