The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $46.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the asset manager’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target suggests a potential downside of 3.55% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LAZ. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Bank of America started coverage on Lazard in a report on Monday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $41.47 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. Lazard has a 52 week low of $31.97 and a 52 week high of $58.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 210,942 shares in the company, valued at $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total value of $155,275.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $465,707.73. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. 3.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,169,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Lazard by 2,763.4% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,405,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $68,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,800 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lazard by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,305,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at $24,424,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.