28,108 Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 28,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,179,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth $379,092,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Lazard by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $119,299,000 after acquiring an additional 221,214 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,481,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $101,153,000 after purchasing an additional 180,244 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Lazard Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $43.98 on Wednesday. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 2.84. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share 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%.Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 98.04%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

About Lazard

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.