13,100 Shares in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Acquired by Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $91,392,000 after purchasing an additional 15,151 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lazard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,099,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,377,000 after purchasing an additional 22,425 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lazard Stock Down 4.9 %

LAZ opened at $49.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $35.56 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.61. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.33.

About Lazard

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.