Raymond James & Associates Cuts Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,376 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,546 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Lazard were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth $60,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth $102,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $134,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Up 3.0 %

LAZ stock opened at $39.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.87 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $42.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.56 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -206.19%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAZ. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.