Insider Selling: Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Sells 64,539 Shares of Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Peter Richard Orszag also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 14th, Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36.

Lazard Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of LAZ stock traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $45.75. 893,407 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 887,616. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.