Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag Sells 125,000 Shares of Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,573,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,486,206. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.84. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.67 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 98.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LAZ. Zacks Research cut Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 price objective on Lazard in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus cut their price objective on Lazard from $63.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $379,092,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Lazard by 3,959.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,555,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $191,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,020 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,169,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,275,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Lazard by 13.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,047,869 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.