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

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.17.

Several equities research analysts have commented on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last quarter. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,962,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Lazard by 31,967.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $46,886,000 after buying an additional 933,755 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $66,137,000 after acquiring an additional 638,169 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Lazard by 335.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,836,000 after acquiring an additional 566,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $118,294,000 after acquiring an additional 483,696 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $35.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.91 and a 200-day moving average of $51.37. 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 one year low of $33.62 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its 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, sell-side analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.67%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

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.