Amica Retiree Medical Trust Cuts Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Amica Retiree Medical Trust lessened its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,745 shares during the quarter. Amica Retiree Medical Trust’s holdings in Lazard were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,099,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $55,377,000 after purchasing an additional 22,425 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter worth approximately $487,000. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Point72 Europe London LLP raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 117.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 101,503 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,114,000 after acquiring an additional 54,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 411,655 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,739,000 after acquiring an additional 8,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

Lazard Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE LAZ opened at $46.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 1.41. Lazard, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.62. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

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.