Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 69,790 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 350.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 89,681 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 69,790 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.08% of Lazard worth $4,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $555,393,000 after buying an additional 81,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $118,294,000 after acquiring an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.47. The company had a trading volume of 695,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 939,856. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.11.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % 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 over the last 90 days. 2.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Lazard

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.