Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Short Interest Update

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,190,000 shares, a drop of 19.4% from the July 15th total of 3,960,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 980,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Lazard Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Lazard stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $47.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 395,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,458. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -137.11 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.31. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $49.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its 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 company had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 414,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,683,738. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $447,103,000 after buying an additional 152,857 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,844,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,973,000 after acquiring an additional 18,233 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $78,031,000 after acquiring an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter worth about $65,650,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth about $47,063,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lazard

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.