Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Sells $1,756,572.75 in Stock

Key Points

• Peter Richard Orszag, CEO of Lazard, sold 32,475 shares of the company's stock for approximately $1.76 million, decreasing his ownership by 15.05% to 183,274 shares.
• Lazard's stock increased by 2.4% on Wednesday, trading at $55.62, with a market cap of $6.27 billion.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.6% and a payout ratio of 68.97%.

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total transaction of $1,756,572.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Lazard Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.75. 1,978,827 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,626. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $54.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.15. The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The business had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Lazard's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lazard's payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on LAZ. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Lazard from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Lazard by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,144 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Lazard by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 56,288 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Lazard by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,140,435 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $58,710,000 after buying an additional 221,783 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its position in Lazard by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,993 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 219,844 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,318,000 after purchasing an additional 48,956 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.