JMP Securities Reaffirms “Market Outperform” Rating for Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating restated by equities research analysts at JMP Securities in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $55.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 41.21% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.83.

Lazard Price Performance

LAZ stock opened at $38.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.27. Lazard has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $61.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.56.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The company had revenue of $669.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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 64,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total transaction of $2,919,744.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,623,437.76. This represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total transaction of $1,877,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This represents a 15.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541 in the last three months. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Lazard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 9,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Lazard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,129 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lazard Company Profile

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.