Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $46.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $44.00 to $46.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "market perform" rating on the asset manager's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target indicates a potential downside of 0.11% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LAZ. UBS Group raised their target price 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 lowered their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.00.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ traded up $3.51 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $46.05. 955,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 966,570. 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 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $61.14. The company's 50-day moving average price is $41.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.88. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 357.5% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 11,242 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 8,785 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Lazard by 5.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 358,970 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,543,000 after purchasing an additional 17,418 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.0% in the first quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 45,524 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 12.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Lazard by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,933 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently 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.

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