Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) PT Raised to $44.00 at UBS Group

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its target price raised by UBS Group from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Lazard from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. TheStreet raised Lazard from a d+ rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Lazard from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Lazard Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $41.87 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.26. Lazard has a 1-year low of $25.82 and a 1-year high of $42.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of -43.16 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $825.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.56 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. Lazard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Lazard’s payout ratio is -206.19%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Lazard by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,019,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,603,000 after acquiring an additional 466,301 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co raised its stake in Lazard by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 47,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 16,930 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Lazard by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 245,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,602,000 after acquiring an additional 44,976 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,563,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $296,565,000 after acquiring an additional 436,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Lazard by 188.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 69,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 45,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.