Lazard's (LAZ) "Market Perform" Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "Market Perform" rating on Lazard and cut its price target to $47 (from $62), implying about a 14.2% upside from the prior close.
• Consensus among analysts is a Hold with a $53.13 average target (3 Buys, 6 Holds, 2 Sells), while the stock trades near $41.15 and has a 12‑month range of $32.04–$58.75.
• Lazard posted an earnings beat (Q: $0.80 EPS vs. $0.68 expected; revenue $892.1M, +11% YoY) even as insiders sold 80,999 shares (~$3.29M) in the past three months, including CEO sales.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $47.00 target price on the asset manager's stock, down from their previous target price of $62.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price points to a potential upside of 14.23% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Lazard from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.13.

Lazard Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $41.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.43. Lazard has a 12-month low of $32.04 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The business had revenue of $892.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Lazard's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. The trade was a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total value of $318,317.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,756.01. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. Insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $8,574,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,862 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 2,106 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $616,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,146,174 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $55,658,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Lazard Company Profile

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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