Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $61.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $61.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LAZ. JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Lazard and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Lazard from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Performance

LAZ stock opened at $55.58 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.82. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. Lazard had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Lazard’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAZ. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Lazard by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. 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.