Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Grows Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the quarter. Lazard accounts for approximately 0.3% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s holdings in Lazard were worth $702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 66.7% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 76,818 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,933,000 after acquiring an additional 30,729 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 19.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,406 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,370,000 after acquiring an additional 77,974 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 7.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.71.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $49.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -142.00 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.80. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $50.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -571.43%.

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.