Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Acquires 1,655 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 184,227 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $9,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Lazard by 169.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 262,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,970,000 after purchasing an additional 164,591 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co grew its position in Lazard by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 54,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,930,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.78. 91,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 938,172. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $54.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.52.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 46.55%. The company had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 79.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, 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 research note on Friday. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

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.