Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Position Reduced by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank trimmed its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 20.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,493 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,762 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Lazard were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 10.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,650,000. Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 10,306.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after buying an additional 1,223,918 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Lazard by 5,770.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,298 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 7.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,875,000 after acquiring an additional 44,151 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Stock Down 2.5 %

LAZ stock opened at $58.16 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.40. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.30 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.68%.

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.