DRW Securities LLC Has $1.86 Million Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

DRW Securities LLC raised its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 20.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,653 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,424 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $447,103,000 after buying an additional 152,857 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,031,000 after acquiring an additional 79,889 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $65,650,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,063,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,875,000 after purchasing an additional 44,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $50.37 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $50.78. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.91 and a beta of 1.39.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total value of $1,853,040.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,936,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,836,857.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736 over the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.71.

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.