Swiss National Bank Increases Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.16% of Lazard worth $9,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Lazard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its stake in Lazard by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Lazard by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,298 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock opened at $45.91 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.39 and a 200 day moving average of $51.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.17.

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.