Morgan Stanley Cuts Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target to $59.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ – Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $59.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 target price on Lazard and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.86.

Get Our Latest Report on LAZ

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $50.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 1.38. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $58.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a current ratio of 2.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.64.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $770.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.91 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 35.02%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Lazard by 53.5% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Lazard by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.

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