44,388 Shares in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 44,388 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,285,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,962,000. Amundi increased its position in Lazard by 31,967.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,886,000 after buying an additional 933,755 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $118,294,000 after buying an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,611,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Lazard by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 381,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $38.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.49. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

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.