Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 40,036 shares during the quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. owned about 0.13% of Lazard worth $5,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in Lazard by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 7,870 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.44. 977,103 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,176,167. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.42. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $42.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of -112.57 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently -571.41%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. UBS Group raised their target price on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Lazard Company 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.