Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Trading Down 4% - Here's Why

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $48.52 and last traded at $48.72. Approximately 482,135 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 538,812 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.29.

Lazard Stock Down 2.5 %

The stock's 50 day moving average is $54.40 and its 200 day moving average is $49.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The company had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Lazard's payout ratio is 79.68%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 10,306.7% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,918 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 5,770.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,064,431 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $53,626,000 after buying an additional 1,046,298 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Lazard during the third quarter worth about $13,560,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $113,357,000 after acquiring an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,102,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

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.