Analysts Set Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target at $48.71

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.29.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Lazard Trading Down 1.7 %

LAZ opened at $50.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $51.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.25. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -143.29 and a beta of 1.39.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

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

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 shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,678,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $447,103,000 after buying an additional 152,857 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 4.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,043,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $78,031,000 after purchasing an additional 79,889 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,650,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,063,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,875,000 after buying an additional 44,151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.