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

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.71.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $50.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.91 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.01. Lazard has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $50.78. 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 (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.43%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 3.3% in the second quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.