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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.33.

Lazard Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lazard Company Profile

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.