Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LAZ. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

Lazard Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $48.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.