Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Purchased by Riverwater Partners LLC

Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 71.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,801 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,373 shares during the quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 7,144 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,902,000 after acquiring an additional 163,983 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after acquiring an additional 18,444 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 16,322 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 62.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Argus decreased their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.56.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ opened at $42.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.59 and a 200-day moving average of $48.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.67 and a 1-year high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $707.42 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,707.73. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962 over the last ninety days. 0.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.