Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Holdings Increased by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,933 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Lazard were worth $473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Lazard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,129 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Lazard by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 95,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,927,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $51.72 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.51. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%. The business had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lazard from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.