Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday.

LAZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $52.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.38. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $50.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.52. Lazard has a 1 year low of $25.82 and a 1 year high of $54.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 46.55% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,403,427.23. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086 in the last three months. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.