Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.00% of Lazard worth $113,357,000 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. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth $88,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth $150,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $57.00 in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.29.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $1.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.04. 2,482,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 938,370. 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 fifty day moving average price of $54.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.28. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.25 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Lazard's payout ratio is 79.68%.

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.