Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

LAZ has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ opened at $34.64 on Thursday. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.39 and a 200 day moving average of $50.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.27.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 5.77%. Lazard’s payout ratio is 75.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. This trade represents a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $947,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Lazard by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,809,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,876,000 after acquiring an additional 90,152 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.