Lazard, Inc. $LAZ Shares Purchased by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 11.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,165,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,265 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $61,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 2.4% during the second quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 8,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Lazard by 1.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 57.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,943 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Trading Down 1.7%

LAZ opened at $49.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $58.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.58.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lazard from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.29.

Lazard Company 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.