Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys 2,223 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,906 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $530,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Lazard by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 157,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,103,000 after buying an additional 8,250 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,419,000. Rheos Capital Works Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 205,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,553,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 209.0% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

Lazard Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $53.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.11. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Lazard 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.