Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 310,195 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,939,854 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 310,195 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.72% of Lazard worth $99,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 209.0% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ traded down $2.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.46. 1,206,135 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,038,210. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $52.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard's payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on LAZ. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities upped their target price on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.33.

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.