Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $71.20 Million Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 42.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,644,323 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 487,574 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $71,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 164.1% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 85.8% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price target on Lazard and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Lazard Stock Up 3.1%

Lazard stock opened at $54.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.24. 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 Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The company’s revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

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.