The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $938,000 in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,361 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $938,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Lazard by 53.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price target on Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $45.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $58.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.29 million. Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,195.84. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.