StockNews.com Lowers Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating and set a $49.00 price objective (down from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $45.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $44.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.71 and a 200-day moving average of $39.30. Lazard has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $46.41. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of -128.00 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a positive return on equity of 37.27%. The company had revenue of $765.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $678.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is -571.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $270,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 414,000 shares of company stock worth $17,683,738 in the last three months. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Lazard by 1,165.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 176,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,142,000 after acquiring an additional 162,549 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 140,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,882,000 after purchasing an additional 28,250 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 110,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,002,000 after purchasing an additional 35,103 shares during the last quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 149,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,196,000 after purchasing an additional 40,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 169.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 262,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,970,000 after purchasing an additional 164,591 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.