Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Position Boosted by Rheos Capital Works Inc.

Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 205,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $10,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the third quarter worth $50,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Down 1.2 %

Lazard stock opened at $54.52 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.96. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LAZ. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.