Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Chairman Sells $4,338,134.56 in Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Lazard Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $48.94 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $50.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -139.83 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -571.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $87,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.