Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Bought by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,142 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,987 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth about $1,626,000. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,779,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $934,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.1% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,031,000 after purchasing an additional 79,889 shares during the period. Finally, Amica Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth $5,700,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on 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 lowered Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Lazard Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $53.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.74. 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 $33.65 and a 52-week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.68%.

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.