Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given "Overweight" Rating at Morgan Stanley

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reissued by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $58.00 price objective on the asset manager's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective suggests a potential upside of 46.32% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lazard from a "d+" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lazard from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ traded down $0.23 on Thursday, reaching $39.64. 663,165 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,495. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.87 and a beta of 1.46. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $39.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $825.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $666.56 million. Lazard had a negative net margin of 2.93% and a positive return on equity of 16.43%. The firm's revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,951,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 227,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,950,078.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 36,336 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 57,464 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 19,252 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 800 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lazard by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company's stock.

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.