Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Decreases Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,158 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,376 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Lazard were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% during 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 last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research 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.com, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.00.

Lazard Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $0.89 on Friday, reaching $56.71. 815,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 930,630. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.99 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $53.94 and a 200 day moving average of $47.39.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

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.