Rheos Capital Works Inc. Buys 95,000 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Rheos Capital Works Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 118.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 175,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $8,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 943.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,963,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $82,227,000 after buying an additional 1,775,664 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $65,650,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $15,768,000. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,102,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Lazard by 169.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 262,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,970,000 after buying an additional 164,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.14.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $54.29 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.34. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $54.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -155.11 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -571.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value 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 approximately $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 in the last quarter. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lazard 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.