Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.58, but opened at $36.38. Lazard shares last traded at $36.65, with a volume of 44,501 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LAZ shares. JMP Securities cut their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.12.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. Analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.26% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lazard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $555,393,000 after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $228,045,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $118,294,000 after purchasing an additional 483,696 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.