Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Bought by Icon Advisers Inc. Co.

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 71.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 65,600 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 27,400 shares during the quarter. Icon Advisers Inc. Co. owned 0.06% of Lazard worth $3,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $59,962,000. Amundi increased its stake in Lazard by 31,967.0% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,886,000 after buying an additional 933,755 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after buying an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,611,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Lazard by 128.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities dropped their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.47. 695,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 939,856. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $44.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.64%. Lazard's payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

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.