Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 227,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,572 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.20% of Lazard worth $11,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,753,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $276,077,000 after purchasing an additional 134,717 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 9.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,153,000 after acquiring an additional 180,244 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $66,547,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 11.8% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,165,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $61,532,000 after acquiring an additional 123,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,902,000 after acquiring an additional 163,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Up 0.1%

LAZ opened at $53.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.58. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $58.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.00.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 7.49%.The firm had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research lowered Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.13.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.