Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Holdings Lowered by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,015 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $17,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,626,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter worth about $6,733,000. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,779,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $934,000. Finally, Amica Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,700,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $57.71 on Thursday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.60 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.61.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

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.