UBS Group Boosts Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target to $44.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.33% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LAZ. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ opened at $41.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of -42.66 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.13 and a 200-day moving average of $34.15. Lazard has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $42.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $825.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $666.56 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Lazard by 2.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 25,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,261 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $135,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 64.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,839 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 720 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.