Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $33.00 to $45.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the asset manager's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price points to a potential upside of 0.49% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LAZ. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. 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 target price on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.33.

Lazard Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $44.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 221,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,679. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. 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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