Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 12,000 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 38.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Lazard were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 3.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter worth $27,000. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 34,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -112.68 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $42.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.37 and its 200 day moving average is $35.49.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.47% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The business’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.67.

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.