Brokerages Set Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target at $45.67

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.67.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LAZ shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Lazard Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:LAZ opened at $36.90 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.26. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of -105.43 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. Lazard has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $42.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.27% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.41%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at $79,313,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,197,607.51. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,001,454.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empire Life Investments Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 19,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in the first quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 204,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,562,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.