Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $55.75 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.75.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Lazard from $53.00 to $46.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Lazard Stock Up 3.7%

LAZ stock opened at $40.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.39. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.32 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts expect that Lazard 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total transaction of $318,317.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,756.01. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,120,000 after acquiring an additional 245,205 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lazard by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in Lazard by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,753,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $276,077,000 after acquiring an additional 134,717 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Lazard by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $119,299,000 after purchasing an additional 221,214 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $114,481,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lazard

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.