Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) PT Raised to $44.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.33% from the stock’s current price.

LAZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Lazard from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet raised Lazard from a “d+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $41.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.15. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.66 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.15.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $825.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $666.56 million. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total value of $2,951,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 25,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,261 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,144 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $135,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,839 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 720 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.