Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. lowered its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,883 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 209.0% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LAZ shares. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.17.

Lazard Stock Down 2.0 %

LAZ opened at $44.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.78. Lazard, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

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.