Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 8,702 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 411,655 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 8,702 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.37% of Lazard worth $20,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Point72 Europe London LLP lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 117.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 101,503 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,114,000 after acquiring an additional 54,903 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $605,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $487,000. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $659,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Lazard Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $57.66. 233,803 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 935,359. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.11 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

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.