Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 15,151 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.61% of Lazard worth $91,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LAZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth about $87,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $150,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
NYSE LAZ opened at $50.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.25 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company's fifty day moving average price is $54.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.13.
Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Lazard's payout ratio is 79.68%.
Several equities analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.43.
Get Our Latest Analysis on 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.
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