Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 4,698.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,638 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 62.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 167.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 100,397 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,817,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth about $772,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in Lazard by 49.0% in the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 8,152 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $50.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.53. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $58.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 35.02% and a net margin of 8.89%.The company had revenue of $770.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. This represents a 15.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $34,163.29. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

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.