Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Sells 1,646 Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lowered its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 50.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,601 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,646 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $56,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 150.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 531,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,509,000 after acquiring an additional 319,384 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $383,000. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth about $493,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $354,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LAZ shares. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.67.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 977,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,176,167. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.68 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $42.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.49.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.47%. The company had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.14% 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.