Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $51.76 and last traded at $51.63, with a volume of 243986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price target (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 report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.14.

Lazard Trading Up 5.4 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.10. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -150.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The business had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Lazard’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -571.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares in the company, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 383,497 shares of company stock worth $18,020,696. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at $1,504,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,126,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,733,000. Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,626,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at about $671,000. Institutional investors 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.