Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Sells 789 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. cut its stake in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,647 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 789 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $487,000. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 26.3% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,582 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 1.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the third quarter worth $8,430,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.17.

Lazard Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $43.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.58. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. As a group, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.