JMP Securities Increases Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target to $55.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at JMP Securities from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target indicates a potential upside of 9.98% from the stock’s previous close.

LAZ has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.14.

Lazard Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of LAZ opened at $50.01 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26 and a beta of 1.39. Lazard has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $51.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $0.24 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,497 shares of company stock valued at $18,020,696 in the last 90 days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd grew its holdings in Lazard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. 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.