Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Crestline Management LP

Crestline Management LP lowered its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,156 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 7,753 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP's holdings in Lazard were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last quarter. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of 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 dropped their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $42.57 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $41.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Lazard's revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

Lazard 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.

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