Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price Down 9% – Should You Sell?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lazard Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.06 and a 200 day moving average of $51.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. Equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Lazard by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 5,170 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 133,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,851,000 after acquiring an additional 21,250 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 219,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,318,000 after acquiring an additional 48,956 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Lazard by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,853 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.