Ranger Investment Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 356,875 Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 356,875 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $18,372,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.32% of Lazard as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $605,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 1.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,425 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 7.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,142 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the third quarter worth approximately $296,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $35.11. The stock had a trading volume of 364,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,339. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.62. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.70%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley cut Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. JMP Securities dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

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.