SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 32,420 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 86.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 32,420 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 131.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 7,144 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,902,000 after purchasing an additional 163,983 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Lazard by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 18,444 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 167.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 62.4% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Lazard from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,523,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,360. 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 $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.43. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $58.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.86 and its 200-day moving average is $47.21.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $707.42 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.05%.

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.