Royal Bank of Canada Sells 92,257 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 17.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,801 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 92,257 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.40% of Lazard worth $18,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $43.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.17.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 98.04%.

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.