Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $108,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAZ. State Street Corp raised its position in Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $89,285,000 after acquiring an additional 37,681 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,809,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 348.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 13,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $49.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $51.96 and a 200-day moving average of $51.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.86% 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.