Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Purchases Shares of 13,100 Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Lazard by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $2,809,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 348.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 13,682 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 5,770.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after buying an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ opened at $49.46 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.61.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on LAZ shares. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.33.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.