market folly

Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management has disclosed a 5.1% ownership stake in Lazard (LAZ).

Today the firm filed an amended 13F with the SEC for the first quarter which shows that they actually originally started acquiring shares in the first quarter.  In the amended filing, Trian disclosed they owned just over 5.5 million shares at the end of March.

So, why did Peltz buy a stake in Lazard?  We've posted up Trian's presentation on Lazard which they released today.

Lazard approved a plan in April to raise operating margins and to improve shareholder value via buybacks and dividends.  Trian is well-known for taking large ownership stakes in companies and implementing change, often through activist positions.

Per Google Finance, Lazard is "a financial advisory and asset management company. It operates in two segments: Financial Advisory, which offers a range of financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions and other strategic matters and various other financial matters, and Asset Management, which includes strategies for the management of equity and fixed income securities and alternative investment and private equity funds, as well as wealth management. Lazard has diverse set of clients around the world, including corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships and individuals."

This is yet another new position by Trian as last month we detailed their activist position in Ingersoll-Rand as well.

For more on this fund, you can read excerpts from Trian's letter on some of their other investments here.