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

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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 Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $46.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.73. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 1.41. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.17.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lazard

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.