Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Short Interest Up 14.5% in January

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the January 15th total of 5,730,000 shares. Currently, 7.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 923,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $52.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,414,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,122. Lazard has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Lazard's payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.33.

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.