Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $48.93, but opened at $45.68. Lazard shares last traded at $47.5060, with a volume of 23,552 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.56.

Lazard Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.51 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.61.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $707.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,707.73. This 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock valued at $3,292,962 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.2% in 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 period. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,744,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,920,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,120,000 after buying an additional 245,205 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,404,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Company Profile

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.