Rhumbline Advisers Sells 20,888 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,725 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20,888 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.09% of Lazard worth $5,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $49,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 170.8% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 72.7% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 12.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total transaction of $1,756,572.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. This represents a 15.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,979,759.25. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $53.45 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $58.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 35.02% and a net margin of 8.89%.The firm had revenue of $770.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 target price on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

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.