Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 73.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,145 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 39,681 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Lazard were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Lazard by 1,165.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 176,491 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,142,000 after buying an additional 162,549 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Lazard by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 140,285 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,882,000 after buying an additional 28,250 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Lazard by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,019,121 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,603,000 after buying an additional 466,301 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its position in Lazard by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 47,659 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 16,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in Lazard by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 245,137 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,602,000 after buying an additional 44,976 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Lazard from a "d+" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.67.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.14% of the company's stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.21. The company had a trading volume of 673,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,161,800. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $42.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -109.20 and a beta of 1.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $39.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.55.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.27% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.23%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is currently -571.41%.

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.