Insider Selling: Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Sells $2,940,396.84 in Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, March 14th, Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.69. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Lazard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,129 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.