800 Shares in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Acquired by Hopwood Financial Services Inc.

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 800 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Lazard by 128.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,935,000 after purchasing an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $2,809,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $45.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.83. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LAZ. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.14% 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.