Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Purchased by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 35,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,522 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its position in Lazard by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 7,870 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Lazard Stock Up 0.7 %

LAZ traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $39.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 462,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,804. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.70.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.41%.

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.