California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 1,513 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 184,326 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,513 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lazard were worth $6,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,684 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Lazard by 38.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 25,922 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 7,210 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 3.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 283,445 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ opened at $39.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of -111.57 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.70. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.12%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -571.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

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.