First Quadrant L P CA cut its stake in Lazard Ltd. (NYSE:LAZ) by 37.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 74,207 shares during the period. First Quadrant L P CA owned 0.10% of Lazard worth $5,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 68,589.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,603,906 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $349,704,000 after buying an additional 7,592,836 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at $103,532,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $26,117,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,216,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $469,860,000 after buying an additional 397,075 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management CA increased its position in shares of Lazard by 6.2% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management CA now owns 6,161,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $283,353,000 after buying an additional 359,974 shares in the last quarter. 69.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Shares of Lazard Ltd. (NYSE:LAZ) traded down 2.30% during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.42. The stock had a trading volume of 542,756 shares. The company has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.11 and its 200 day moving average is $44.83. Lazard Ltd. has a 12 month low of $33.48 and a 12 month high of $48.86.
Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.18. Lazard had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 17.39%. The company had revenue of $720.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard Ltd. will post $3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 46.46%.
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Several brokerages have commented on LAZ. BidaskClub upgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. ValuEngine upgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Credit Suisse Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.89.
In related news, CFO Matthieu Bucaille sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.81, for a total transaction of $4,032,900.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Lazard Company Profile
Lazard Ltd (Lazard) is a financial advisory and asset management company. The Company operates through two segments: Financial Advisory and Asset Management. It serves a range of clients around the world, including corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships and individuals. The Financial Advisory business segment offers corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients across the globe a range of financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other strategic matters, restructurings, capital structure, capital raising and various other financial matters to corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients.
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