Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Trading Down 9% – Time to Sell?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)’s share price fell 9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $44.03 and last traded at $44.54. 546,752 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 1,094,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

Lazard Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.92. 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 cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $555,393,000 after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Lazard by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $228,045,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $118,294,000 after buying an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after buying an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after acquiring an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.