Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Rating Raised to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Lazard from “sell” to “hold,” while analysts overall maintain an average “Hold” rating and a $46.50 price target.
• Lazard’s shares opened at $38.35, near their 50-day moving average of $38.73 and well below the 12-month high of $58.75.
• The company missed quarterly expectations, reporting $0.36 in adjusted earnings per share versus the $0.42 consensus estimate and revenue of $804.62 million versus $844.23 million expected.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Capital One Financial set a $38.00 target price on Lazard in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $38.35 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $38.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. Lazard has a 12-month low of $34.13 and a 12-month high of $58.75.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $804.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $844.23 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 5.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lazard will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,111 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.5% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 13,129 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.0% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,266 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 25.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 37.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

About Lazard

Lazard, Ltd. is a global financial advisory and asset management firm that serves corporations, financial institutions, governments, sovereign entities and individuals. Its Financial Advisory business provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, capital structure, restructuring, capital raising and other complex financial transactions.

Through its Asset Management business, Lazard offers investment strategies across equities, fixed income, private markets, alternatives and multi-asset portfolios.

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