Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires New Holdings in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 697,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $29,241,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Lazard by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price target on Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $5,440,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lazard Stock Up 1.1%

LAZ stock opened at $43.70 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.67 and a 12 month high of $58.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.84.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 98.04%.

Lazard Company 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.