Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Invests $659,000 in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 2.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after buying an additional 37,681 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,650,000. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in Lazard by 10,306.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $62,259,000 after buying an additional 1,223,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,099,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,377,000 after acquiring an additional 22,425 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.40. 27,915 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 938,106. The company has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.30 and a 1 year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.