Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $60.81 Million Stake in Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,431,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 48,607 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $60,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,169,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Lazard by 2,763.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,405,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,800 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Lazard by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,869 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $34,305,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,424,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $42.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.43. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.67 and a 12 month high of $58.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.47.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.04%.

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.