Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Short Interest Down 15.0% in September

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, a drop of 15.0% from the September 15th total of 3,400,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 752,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its position in Lazard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.14.

Lazard Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $1.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.29. 768,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,142. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.26. Lazard has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $54.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -154.97 and a beta of 1.39.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

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.