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 that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at $10,623,437.76. This represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, March 17th, Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.69.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Lazard by 12.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 25,944 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Lazard by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 176,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,872,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,099,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,377,000 after acquiring an additional 22,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 2.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after acquiring an additional 37,681 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.17.

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.