Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases Shares of 18,920 Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 18,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Lazard by 97.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 332,333 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,138,000 after acquiring an additional 164,168 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $24,424,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $1,136,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $1,983,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,760,637 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $85,497,000 after purchasing an additional 38,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lazard from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 target price on Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus dropped their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.56. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.29 million. Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 98.04%.

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.