Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag Sells 64,539 Shares

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Monday, March 17th, Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $45.75 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.65 and a 200-day moving average of $51.76. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.56 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 54.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.