Royce & Associates LP Trims Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 916,519 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 110,100 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.81% of Lazard worth $46,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd 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 increased its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $87,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Down 1.4 %

LAZ traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $55.00. The company had a trading volume of 415,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 949,655. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 1.38. 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 fifty day moving average price of $51.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.45. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.25 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.64%. Lazard's payout ratio is 79.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

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.