SpiderRock Advisors LLC Sells 279 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC lessened its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. SpiderRock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $2,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth approximately $87,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock opened at $58.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.82 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. Lazard’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Lazard 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.