Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives $54.17 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.83.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities dropped their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $34.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,720,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 939,332. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.62. Lazard has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14.

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Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,962,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 31,967.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $46,886,000 after buying an additional 933,755 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $66,137,000 after acquiring an additional 638,169 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Lazard by 335.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $37,836,000 after acquiring an additional 566,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after acquiring an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

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.