Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 37,681 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 37,681 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $89,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its holdings in Lazard by 3.3% during the second quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 12.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 3.5% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 5.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lazard Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $59.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.25. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $27.30 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS 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 business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Lazard 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.