Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Evan L. Russo Sells 35,000 Shares

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Lazard Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $55.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.37. The company has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $555,393,000 after purchasing an additional 81,559 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Lazard by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $228,045,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $118,294,000 after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Lazard Company Profile

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.