Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Trading Down 8.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) traded down 8.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $40.63 and last traded at $40.96. 666,760 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 1,115,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LAZ shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.13.

Lazard Trading Down 7.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.78.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Lazard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,146,174 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $55,658,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $1,231,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 455.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,459 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,382,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,147,000 after purchasing an additional 23,284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.