Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Position Lifted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.57% of Lazard worth $555,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Lazard in the third quarter worth about $487,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth $605,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 411,655 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $20,739,000 after buying an additional 8,702 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,560,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 26.3% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,582 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was 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. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.17.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ traded down $3.36 on Friday, reaching $35.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,458,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 904,536. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.62 and a twelve month 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $48.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's payout ratio is 75.19%.

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.