Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 34,669 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 53.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,821 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 34,669 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,787,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Lazard by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 196,848 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,559,000 after acquiring an additional 13,199 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Lazard by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 2,970 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 60,317 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,856,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock opened at $46.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.69 and its 200 day moving average is $48.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.51 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $38.67 and a one year high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The asset manager reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $672.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $707.42 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 29.30% and a net margin of 8.47%.Lazard’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Argus cut their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of Lazard 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lazard Company Profile

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.