American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 41.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,280 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 14,496 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Lazard were worth $774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,755,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $372,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 320.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 47,576 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 36,258 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $211,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at $86,403,427.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.29.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ traded down $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 470,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,865. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.97 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.58. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $51.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The firm's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Lazard's payout ratio is -571.43%.

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.