Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given a $60.00 Price Target at JMP Securities

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) has been assigned a $60.00 price objective by research analysts at JMP Securities in a research report issued on Monday, July 14th, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a "market outperform" rating on the asset manager's stock. JMP Securities' price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.97% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Lazard from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of Lazard stock traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $53.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 829,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,133,093. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $47.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.32. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34 and a beta of 1.33.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 35.81%. The firm had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2,324.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,099,179 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $264,096,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847,608 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Lazard by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,263,046 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $97,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,370 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,962,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Lazard by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lazard by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 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.