GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Sells 13,926 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 290,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,926 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. owned about 0.26% of Lazard worth $14,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LAZ. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,144 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,902,000 after purchasing an additional 163,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 18,444 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 167.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 62.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total transaction of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,707.73. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $48.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.67 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.61.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.10). Lazard had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 29.30%. The firm had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Lazard’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.56.

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.