Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 15,151 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.61% of Lazard worth $91,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth $150,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $65.00 to $57.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.29.

Lazard Stock Up 3.1 %

LAZ traded up $1.55 on Friday, reaching $52.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,482,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,370. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.25 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.21.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard's payout ratio is 79.68%.

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.