Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $33.00 to $45.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager's stock.

LAZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.33.

Lazard Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $47.67. 700,616 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,353. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $42.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.32. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Lazard's payout ratio is 69.69%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $947,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 678,617 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 381,546 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lazard by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,862,389 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 90,152 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth about $3,735,000. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth about $18,372,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.