Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 182,617 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,194,140 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 182,617 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.06% of Lazard worth $61,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $59,962,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 31,967.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,886,000 after purchasing an additional 933,755 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 26.7% in the fourth 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. Finally, FIL Ltd bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $21,611,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.94 on Wednesday, reaching $38.05. The stock had a trading volume of 195,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,658. 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 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.56.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LAZ. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.83.

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.