Eaton Vance Management grew its holdings in Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) by 9.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 147,570 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,138 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management’s holdings in Legg Mason were worth $5,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Legg Mason in the 4th quarter worth $162,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Legg Mason by 219.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Legg Mason by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Legg Mason in the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Legg Mason in the 4th quarter worth $247,000. 93.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Get Legg Mason alerts:In related news, EVP Patricia Lattin sold 898 shares of Legg Mason stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.95, for a total transaction of $34,977.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,614,282.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Thomas C. Merchant sold 2,537 shares of Legg Mason stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $98,435.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 65,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,472. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,771 shares of company stock valued at $1,349,563 in the last quarter. 12.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Legg Mason from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Legg Mason from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank lifted their price target on shares of Legg Mason from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Legg Mason in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Legg Mason from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Legg Mason has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.10.
Legg Mason opened at $39.05 on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Legg Mason has a 12 month low of $36.24 and a 12 month high of $47.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 2.06.
Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.15. Legg Mason had a net margin of 11.21% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $785.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $755.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. research analysts expect that Legg Mason will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Legg Mason’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 11th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Legg Mason’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.11%.
Legg Mason Profile
Legg Mason, Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides investment management and related services to company-sponsored mutual funds and other investment vehicles including pension funds, foundations, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, private banks, family offices, individuals, as well as to global, institutional, and retail clients.
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