Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Cut to $54.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its target price decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $54.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 48.35% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Lazard Trading Down 3.5 %

Lazard stock opened at $36.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -104.00 and a beta of 1.42. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The firm had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at $80,001,454.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $79,313,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Lazard by 265.0% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 791,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,740,000 after acquiring an additional 574,379 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at about $2,099,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 188.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 69,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Lazard by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 524,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,276,000 after purchasing an additional 179,708 shares during the period. Finally, Numerai GP LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $339,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently 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.