Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) PT Raised to $42.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price target raised by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $38.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 14.16% from the company’s previous close.

LAZ has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.33.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.93. 207,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,071,069. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of -139.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $49.59.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.27% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 414,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,683,738. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Delta Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.