Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 73,365 Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 73,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,696,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Lazard as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities upped their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.14.

Lazard Stock Down 0.1 %

Lazard stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $51.06. The stock had a trading volume of 50,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 940,119. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.76. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $54.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -146.03 and a beta of 1.39.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.