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 dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Peter Richard Orszag also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 14th, Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ opened at $46.05 on Wednesday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.57 and a 200-day moving average of $51.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released 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 research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.17.

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.