My Legacy Advisors LLC Purchases 1,255 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,527 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. King Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 2,053.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,104 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 4,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at $267,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $51.06 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.50.

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.