Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Increased to $56.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 27.77% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LAZ. StockNews.com downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

Lazard Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $43.83. 654,965 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,064,124. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.81 and a 200-day moving average of $39.35. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of -125.77 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a 12 month low of $25.82 and a 12 month high of $46.41.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.08. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 37.27% and a negative net margin of 0.63%. The business had revenue of $765.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,313,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total value of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 6,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $270,480.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,982,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,313,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 414,000 shares of company stock worth $17,683,738. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Lazard by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 19,018 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at $226,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 36,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 7,640 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 161.1% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 17,130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.