Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Sets New 52-Week High at $50.50

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.50 and last traded at $49.87, with a volume of 11324 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.71.

Lazard Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -142.14 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.71 and its 200 day moving average is $41.86.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $685.30 million during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently -571.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $447,103,000 after acquiring an additional 152,857 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $78,031,000 after purchasing an additional 79,889 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the first quarter worth $65,650,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $47,063,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 7.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 651,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,875,000 after purchasing an additional 44,151 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.