State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,415 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 8,250 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned approximately 0.14% of Lazard worth $8,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth $360,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth about $299,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 32.7% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 26,000 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 108.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 43,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,202,000 after acquiring an additional 22,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $421,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.21 on Monday, reaching $52.51. The stock had a trading volume of 270,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,021,883. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.33 and a 200 day moving average of $51.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAZ. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.33.

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.