Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs Sells 86,728 Shares

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $49.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.76. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $50.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.74 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,165.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 176,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,142,000 after acquiring an additional 162,549 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,114 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 149,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,196,000 after acquiring an additional 40,036 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter worth about $905,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 67,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 21,615 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.33.

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.