Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.33.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Lazard Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.27. The company had a trading volume of 527,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,581. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 1.28. The company's fifty day moving average is $40.69 and its 200-day moving average is $48.12.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This represents a 21.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,381,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Lazard by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,007 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Lazard by 178.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 103,778 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,494,000 after buying an additional 66,525 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,318,000 after buying an additional 18,444 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,172 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 3,668 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

About Lazard

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.