New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 26,882 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 286,626 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 26,882 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.25% of Lazard worth $14,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Up 14.7 %

Shares of LAZ stock traded up $7.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,997,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 742,642. The stock has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.63.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Lazard's revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at $86,403,427.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. UBS Group upped their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

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.