California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 1,513 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,326 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,513 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.16% of Lazard worth $6,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Lazard by 3.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Lazard by 1.2% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 87,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in Lazard by 3.6% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 34,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.67.

Lazard Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $39.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $42.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.70. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of -111.57 and a beta of 1.46.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The company had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is -571.41%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.