Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 57.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $44,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $251,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 287,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,452,000 after purchasing an additional 25,480 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 358,970 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,543,000 after purchasing an additional 17,418 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $598,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares in the company, valued at $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock worth $6,030,986 in the last three months. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lazard Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $51.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $54.46 and its 200-day moving average is $47.67. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.13 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lazard from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Zacks Research cut Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Lazard in a research report on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on Lazard and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.14.

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.