Zacks Research Upgrades Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) to Hold

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

LAZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Lazard Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LAZ opened at $35.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.43. Lazard has a one year low of $35.16 and a one year high of $58.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 2.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.48.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $786.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 6.95%.Lazard’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,195.84. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAZ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard in the second quarter worth $379,092,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at $80,169,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $67,275,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the second quarter valued at about $42,122,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Lazard in the second quarter worth about $33,756,000. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a global financial advisory and asset management firm. The company provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, capital structure, restructuring, strategic matters and other corporate finance activities. Lazard also offers asset management services for institutions, financial intermediaries, private clients and other investors.

Lazard traces its origins to 1848, when the Lazard brothers established a business in New Orleans. The firm later expanded to San Francisco and Paris, developing an international platform that serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other key global markets.

The company operates through financial advisory and asset management businesses, with teams serving corporations, governments, institutions and high-net-worth individuals.