Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Holdings Raised by Todd Asset Management LLC

Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Lazard worth $3,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Lazard by 265.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 791,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,740,000 after purchasing an additional 574,379 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Lazard by 84.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,019,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,603,000 after acquiring an additional 466,301 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Lazard by 4.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,563,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $296,565,000 after acquiring an additional 436,034 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter valued at $6,590,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 52.1% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 524,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,276,000 after acquiring an additional 179,708 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.05. 462,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 832,804. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.66.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The company had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.