Lazard’s (LAZ) Hold (C+) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)‘s stock had its “hold (c+)” rating reiterated by Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lazard from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $60.00 target price on Lazard and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.14.

Lazard Trading Down 1.6%

LAZ opened at $49.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 1.37. Lazard has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.24 and a 200 day moving average of $47.74.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.13 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,913,290.66. The trade was a 15.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of Lazard stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 227,915 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,759.25. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teza Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 2.4% in the second quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 8,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lazard by 12.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Lazard by 1.2% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 57.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 1.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.