Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Acquired by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,486 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,121 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Lazard worth $4,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the third 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 period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Lazard during the third quarter worth about $8,430,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.50.

Lazard Trading Up 1.6 %

LAZ opened at $53.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.76.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) 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). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. 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 previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.