Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag Sells 69,170 Shares of Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total transaction of $2,819,369.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Lazard Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $39.86 on Thursday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.48 and its 200-day moving average is $50.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.74%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,722,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,914,000 after buying an additional 20,591 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth $4,744,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth $2,920,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth $1,210,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $3,404,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LAZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.