Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,650,918 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $80,169,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Lazard by 53.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Lazard in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Lazard in the second quarter valued at $38,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,707.73. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $46.40 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.67 and a 1-year high of $58.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.31 and a 200-day moving average of $48.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.51 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.10). Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.The company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $707.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Argus dropped their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.56.

Lazard Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.