Monument Capital Management Takes $2.81 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Monument Capital Management bought a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 54,563 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,809,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 209.0% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities raised their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.33.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,414,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,122. 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. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $52.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Lazard Company 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.