Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $99.86 Million Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,939,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 310,195 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.72% of Lazard worth $99,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 209.0% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.33.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $54.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.52.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.