KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New Investment in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 18,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi raised its holdings in Lazard by 31,967.0% during the 4th 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings 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 period. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,430,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.17.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % 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 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lazard Trading Up 0.3 %

LAZ stock opened at $43.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.61. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

About Lazard

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.