12,682 Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Bought by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 12,682 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $41.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.51. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $38.67 and a one year high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.The company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Lazard Company Profile

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.