Brokerages Set Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) PT at $53.00

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on LAZ shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd.

Lazard Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a 12-month low of $26.25 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 79.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. This represents a 5.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock worth $8,658,086 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3.3% in the second quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 12.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 3.5% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.