Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Short Interest Down 15.0% in September

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,890,000 shares, a decline of 15.0% from the September 15th total of 3,400,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 752,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.14.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $447,103,000 after purchasing an additional 152,857 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,031,000 after acquiring an additional 79,889 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth about $65,650,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 7.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,875,000 after acquiring an additional 44,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 19.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,370,000 after acquiring an additional 77,974 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.29. 768,442 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,142. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of -154.97 and a beta of 1.39. Lazard has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $54.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

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.