Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 483,696 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.04% of Lazard worth $118,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $59,962,000. Amundi raised its position in Lazard by 31,967.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $46,886,000 after purchasing an additional 933,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 128.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,935,000 after buying an additional 381,546 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $35.60. The company had a trading volume of 48,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 937,040. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $46.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.62. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.27.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 Announces Dividend

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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

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.