Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 103,770 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 90,838 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.09% of Lazard worth $5,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,393,000 after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after buying an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $59,962,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $38.65 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50 day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.73.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Lazard 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.

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