Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $57.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $52.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the asset manager's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wolfe Research lowered Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Lazard Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Lazard stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.20. The company had a trading volume of 772,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,075,046. The company's 50-day moving average is $52.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.96. Lazard has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Lazard's payout ratio is 75.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 209.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is 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.