Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,588,341 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 190,037 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.41% of Lazard worth $83,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth about $83,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,943 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 324.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.13.

Lazard Trading Up 0.1%

Lazard stock opened at $53.78 on Tuesday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $58.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.32 and its 200-day moving average is $52.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 2.58. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 34.54%. 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 business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

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.