Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) is Claro Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 10,306.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,223,918 shares during the period. Lazard makes up about 5.9% of Claro Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $62,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 943.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,963,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $82,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775,664 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter worth about $65,650,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth about $15,768,000. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,102,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 169.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 262,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,970,000 after acquiring an additional 164,591 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.14.

Lazard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Lazard stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, reaching $53.66. The company had a trading volume of 59,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,626. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $54.72. The firm has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -153.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

Lazard Company Profile

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.