Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Research Coverage Started at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $51.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock.

LAZ has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $48.71.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $47.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -136.48 and a beta of 1.39. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $50.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently -571.41%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736. 3.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $87,000. 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.