Legal & General Group Plc Invests $10.23 Million in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 244,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,233,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price target on Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $43.24 on Tuesday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The business’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.