Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Penn Capital Management Company LLC

Penn Capital Management Company LLC lessened its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 310,586 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 59,016 shares during the quarter. Lazard makes up about 1.6% of Penn Capital Management Company LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned 0.28% of Lazard worth $15,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,393,000 after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Lazard by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $228,045,000 after acquiring an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after acquiring an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $113,357,000 after acquiring an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.94. The company had a trading volume of 260,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,627. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.64. Lazard, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $669.16 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday. Two 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

Insider Activity

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

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.