Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 27,287 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 102,696 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 27,287 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $3,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter valued at $48,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Up 1.1 %

LAZ opened at $51.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.33 and a 200-day moving average of $42.19. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -145.89 and a beta of 1.39. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $51.44. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LAZ. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.29.

Lazard 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.