Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given New $55.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager's stock.

LAZ has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.33.

Lazard Trading Down 1.5 %

LAZ stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.20. 770,122 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,073,330. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.96. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $35.56 and a fifty-two week 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 capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 348.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,604 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 13,682 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 118.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 175,000 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $8,817,000 after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 5,770.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $53,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,298 shares during the period. 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.