Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth about $50,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. King Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 2,053.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,104 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 4,867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $54.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.45. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.56 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 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.