Fmr LLC Sells 212,230 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Fmr LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,567,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 212,230 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned 0.08% of Lazard worth $482,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after acquiring an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,918 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,099,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,377,000 after purchasing an additional 22,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $58.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.28 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

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.