Christopher Hogbin Sells 7,885 Shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total transaction of $318,317.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,756.01. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Christopher Hogbin also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 19th, Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of Lazard stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $39.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.77. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $8,574,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Lazard by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $616,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Lazard by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,146,174 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,658,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAZ. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $46.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $59.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.75.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.