National Bank of Canada FI Has $141,000 Stock Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Lazard were worth $141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,626,000. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,779,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $934,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,031,000 after acquiring an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $53.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.92. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $34.25 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on LAZ. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

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.