HBK Investments L P Invests $1.53 Million in Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ)

HBK Investments L P acquired a new position in Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 46,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,530,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aviva PLC raised its position in Lazard by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 89,112 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Lazard by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 57,464 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Lazard by 88.7% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 2.1% in the first quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 18,876 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.64% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Up 0.7 %

LAZ traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 488,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,534. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -183.60 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.76. Lazard Ltd has a 52-week low of $27.71 and a 52-week high of $43.44.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The asset manager reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $620.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $572.06 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 30.45% and a net margin of 0.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard Ltd will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 7th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 4th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,111.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley raised Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lazard from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.25.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers various financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital advisory, shareholder advisory, capital raising, sovereign advisory, and other strategic advisory matters.