Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Bought by Rheos Capital Works Inc.

Rheos Capital Works Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,000 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. owned about 0.18% of Lazard worth $10,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 209.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.20. 772,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,075,155. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-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 company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.57 and a 200 day moving average of $51.06.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.33.

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.