Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 11.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 11.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 57,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,472,000 after buying an additional 5,680 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth about $251,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock opened at $49.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.56 and a 200-day moving average of $48.25. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.37.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The company had revenue of $782.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.97%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,756,572.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total transaction of $34,163.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price target on Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “moderate buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.29.

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.