Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research cut Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lazard from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.13.

Lazard Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of LAZ opened at $50.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a 1 year low of $31.97 and a 1 year high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.99.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.32 million. Lazard had a net margin of 7.49% and a return on equity of 33.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,120,000 after buying an additional 245,205 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 2.4% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,753,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $276,077,000 after acquiring an additional 134,717 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Lazard by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,456,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $119,299,000 after acquiring an additional 221,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lazard by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,357,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $114,481,000 after acquiring an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lazard

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.