Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) PT Raised to $60.00 at Morgan Stanley

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.59% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.29.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $50.17. The company had a trading volume of 151,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 990,258. Lazard has a 12-month low of $25.82 and a 12-month high of $51.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -143.74 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day moving average of $42.03.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock worth $19,873,736. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 943.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,963,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $82,227,000 after buying an additional 1,775,664 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $65,650,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,063,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter worth approximately $15,768,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 150.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 531,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,509,000 after purchasing an additional 319,384 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.