Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Sells $2,819,369.20 in Stock

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

Lazard Stock Performance

Lazard stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.86. 1,324,351 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,309,845. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.05. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.32 million. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 91.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research raised Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.75.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,120,000 after purchasing an additional 245,205 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Lazard by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,685,000 after buying an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 2.4% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,753,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $276,077,000 after buying an additional 134,717 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $119,299,000 after buying an additional 221,214 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $114,481,000 after buying an additional 6,429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.