Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given New $44.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $51.00 to $44.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "sell" rating on the asset manager's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective points to a potential downside of 11.24% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LAZ. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.57. 1,400,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,082,040. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $53.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.89. 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 has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $98,149,000 after buying an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in Lazard in the second quarter valued at $1,626,000. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $1,779,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 348.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,604 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 13,682 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $89,285,000 after buying an additional 37,681 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.