TD Asset Management Inc Boosts Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 182,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned about 0.16% of Lazard worth $8,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Lazard by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 164.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 170.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.43.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $48.65 on Monday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.90 and its 200 day moving average is $48.02. The stock has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.53.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.13 million. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.97%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $2,847,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,759.25. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.26% 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.