Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Short Interest Update

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,450,000 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the March 15th total of 6,560,000 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,962,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 31,967.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $46,886,000 after acquiring an additional 933,755 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $66,137,000 after acquiring an additional 638,169 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lazard by 335.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $118,294,000 after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $1.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.18. 278,245 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 942,469. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 1.27. Lazard has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.54 and a 200-day moving average of $49.86. 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 (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, equities analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.10%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

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.