Franklin Resources Inc. Makes New Investment in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 99,604 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $5,128,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Lazard at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,393,000 after purchasing an additional 81,559 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,876,000 after acquiring an additional 90,152 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $91,392,000 after acquiring an additional 15,151 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.94. 333,377 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 939,139. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.03 and a 200 day moving average of $50.52. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.83.

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.