Evan L. Russo Sells 75,000 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZGet Free Report) CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $38.77 on Friday. Lazard, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $42.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.97 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.79.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $666.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -206.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.67.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on LAZ

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,063,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Lazard by 265.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 791,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,740,000 after buying an additional 574,379 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 6,544.8% during the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 480,489 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,376,000 after buying an additional 473,258 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Lazard by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,019,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,603,000 after buying an additional 466,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Lazard by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,750,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $121,565,000 after buying an additional 462,677 shares during the last quarter. 57.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lazard

(Get Free Report)

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.

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