O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc Makes New $342,000 Investment in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $354,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $383,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth approximately $405,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $493,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,197,607.51. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,001,454.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.58 on Monday, hitting $38.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,321,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,067,622. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -110.54 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.97 and a 200-day moving average of $38.62.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The firm had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is -571.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LAZ. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 target price (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

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.