Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,866 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,866 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.23% of Lazard worth $13,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Lazard by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,347,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 37,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its stake in Lazard by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 27,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ stock opened at $34.95 on Thursday. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.31.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal 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 was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last ninety days. 2.26% 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.