Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 38,220 Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 38,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,856,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Lazard by 2,763.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,405,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $68,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,800 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Lazard in the second quarter valued at about $34,305,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $18,201,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Lazard by 1,065.3% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 347,564 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,334,000 after purchasing an additional 317,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 2.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,120,000 after purchasing an additional 245,205 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $45.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $707.42 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $465,707.73. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lazard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lazard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic acquisition — Lazard agreed to buy Campbell Lutyens to create “Lazard CL,” expanding its private-capital advisory capabilities and positioning the firm as a leader in fund placement and secondary advisory, which could boost long-term fee pool and cross‑sell opportunities. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Asset-management strength — Adjusted net revenue for Asset Management rose 17% YoY with positive net flows of $9 billion; Lazard said the asset-management business drove much of the profit increase this quarter. This supports recurring-fee growth and margin resilience. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend — Board declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend (4.4% yield on current levels), payable May 22; a healthy yield can support shareholder returns and investor sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: GAAP vs. adjusted metrics — Lazard reported first-quarter net revenue of $757M and GAAP net income of $101M ($0.91 per share), while adjusted net revenue and the EPS metric investors tracked differ; reconcilement between GAAP and adjusted figures may explain mixed market reaction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings and revenue missed estimates — Reported EPS of $0.42 missed consensus ~$0.52 and revenue of $673M missed estimates near $707M; missing both top- and bottom-line expectations is the primary catalyst for the stock decline as it shows near-term operating pressure vs. Street models. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market focus and volume — Shares moved lower on the earnings miss with above-average volume, suggesting investors are prioritizing near-term earnings shortfalls and uncertainty over integration/timing of growth from the acquisition. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LAZ. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. 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 report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Lazard from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.50.

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.