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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84.

Lazard Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $45.75. 893,407 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 887,616. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.74 and a 200 day simple 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. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently 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.