Norges Bank Invests $66.55 Million in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,386,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $66,547,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.23% of Lazard at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 12.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 57.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,812,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 1.1% during the second quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 46,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,759.25. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 108,092 shares of company stock worth $6,030,986 over the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $53.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 2.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $58.07.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $770.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.91 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 35.02% and a net margin of 8.89%.The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price target on Lazard and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

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.