Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Lowered to $38.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $44.00 to $38.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on LAZ. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lazard currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.83.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LAZ opened at $33.39 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 1.27. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. On average, analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This represents a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 234,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. This represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

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.