Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Holdings Lifted by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 8,250 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Lazard were worth $8,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth $50,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 209.0% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on LAZ. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.33.

Lazard Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $54.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.08. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

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.