Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Reaches New 12-Month High at $50.26

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $50.26 and last traded at $50.11, with a volume of 804591 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Lazard Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.14 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.87.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total value of $1,853,040.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,936,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 348,596 shares of company stock valued at $15,924,235 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its holdings in Lazard by 127.0% during the second quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 231,452 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,837,000 after buying an additional 129,490 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $955,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $336,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 22.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,585 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth about $806,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

About Lazard

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.