Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $61.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.75. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31 and a beta of 1.38.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 79.68%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at $86,403,427.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,679,058. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086. 3.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 18,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in Lazard by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,646 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.