Amundi Purchases 933,755 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Amundi grew its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 31,967.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 936,676 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 933,755 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.83% of Lazard worth $46,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,488,000. Inceptionr LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 13,675 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,285,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,156,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 92,318 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $45.83 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.83. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LAZ. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

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.