Jupiter Topco LLC Takes $67.28 Million Position in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,604,098 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $67,275,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 53.5% during 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. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $43.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.86 and a 200-day moving average of $45.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.67 and a twelve month high of $58.75.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 98.04%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

About Lazard

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.