Janus Henderson Group PLC Lowers Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,512,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 257,721 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 1.34% of Lazard worth $76,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $446,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth approximately $270,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 161.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 17,130 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 26.0% in the second quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 36,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 7,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $56.67 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.20 and a 12 month high of $61.14. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Lazard Company 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.