Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Holdings Boosted by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,151 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $91,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth $88,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth $150,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Lazard Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $50.49 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.25 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 79.68%.

About Lazard

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.