Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $53.63 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $53,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in Lazard in the first quarter valued at about $65,650,000. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 10,306.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,918 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,102,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth approximately $6,733,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 5.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $55.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.38. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.25 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 79.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.