Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.17.

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAZ. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $46.54 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.69. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. Lazard has a 1 year low of $35.56 and a 1 year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.