Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Has $1.61 Million Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,620 shares during the quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,813 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its position in Lazard by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 9,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 51,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,647,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $54.06 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.50.

About Lazard

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.