Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag Sells 64,539 Shares

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Peter Richard Orszag also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84.

Lazard Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 746,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.65.

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Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

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.