Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $60.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and issued a $56.00 price target (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $49.29.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $50.15 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.29 and a beta of 1.39. Lazard has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $51.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.25.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $625.40 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 41.78% and a net margin of 5.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at $82,082,569.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total value of $4,338,134.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,082,569.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 87,770 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.08, for a total transaction of $4,219,981.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,553,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,679,058. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 943.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,963,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $82,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775,664 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in Lazard in the first quarter valued at about $65,650,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lazard in the fourth quarter worth about $47,063,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at about $15,768,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 150.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 531,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,509,000 after buying an additional 319,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.