Citizens Jmp Lowers Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target to $60.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Citizens Jmp from $65.00 to $60.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market outperform” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s price objective points to a potential upside of 28.56% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LAZ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $47.00 target price (down from $62.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on Lazard from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.88.

Lazard Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $46.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $32.84 and a fifty-two week high of $58.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.42.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $892.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other news, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 7,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.37, for a total transaction of $318,317.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,756.01. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This trade represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 7,144 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 27.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 759,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,902,000 after buying an additional 163,983 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 8.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,318,000 after buying an additional 18,444 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 167.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 62.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. 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.