Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC reduced its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 194,608 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 91,126 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.17% of Lazard worth $9,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in Lazard during the second quarter worth $1,626,000. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Lazard during the second quarter valued at $1,779,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $934,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.1% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $78,031,000 after purchasing an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Lazard Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.74. The company had a trading volume of 878,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,071. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.01. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.25 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

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.