Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $50.33 and traded as high as $50.86. Lazard shares last traded at $50.50, with a volume of 288,267 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price target on Lazard and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Lazard Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $770.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.91 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 35.02% and a net margin of 8.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CAO Michael Gathy sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.37, for a total value of $34,163.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total transaction of $2,847,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 227,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,979,759.25. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,092 shares of company stock worth $6,030,986. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the third quarter worth $37,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Lazard in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $49,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.