11,931 Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $739,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Lazard by 97.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 332,333 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,138,000 after purchasing an additional 164,168 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,431,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,806,000 after purchasing an additional 48,607 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,424,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,760,637 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $85,497,000 after purchasing an additional 38,133 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Down 0.9%

LAZ stock opened at $43.24 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The firm had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,195.84. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Lazard Profile

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.