Short Interest in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Decreases By 22.5%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 22.5% to 3,488,663 shares as of March 31, representing about 3.2% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of 2.5 days.
• Significant insider selling occurred in March: Peter Orszag sold 69,170 shares and Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares, with insiders offloading 80,999 shares worth $3.29 million in the quarter.
• Lazard has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $52.50, while large institutions like Norges Bank, M&T Bank and T. Rowe increased or initiated sizable positions (institutional ownership ~54.8%).

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,488,663 shares, a decrease of 22.5% from the March 15th total of 4,500,741 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,686 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.50.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total value of $318,317.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,756.01. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. 2.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $80,169,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Lazard by 2,763.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,405,899 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $68,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,800 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lazard by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Lazard in the second quarter worth $34,305,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $24,424,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Trading Up 3.9%

Lazard stock opened at $50.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.42. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $33.45 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The company had revenue of $892.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Lazard's payout ratio is 91.74%.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. NYSE: LAZ is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.

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