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

Amica Retiree Medical Trust lessened its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 36.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 85.8% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lazard from $63.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $46.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.62. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.