Northern Trust Corp Sells 116,507 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Northern Trust Corp reduced its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 693,601 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 116,507 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.62% of Lazard worth $35,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 234,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $42.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The business's 50-day moving average price is $41.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.91.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.83.

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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