Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 44.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,507 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 12,803 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Lazard were worth $2,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $947,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management acquired a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,809,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.47. The company had a trading volume of 695,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 940,433. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average is $44.62 and its 200-day moving average is $50.12. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

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.