Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JMP Securities decreased their price target on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $34.64 on Thursday. Lazard has a twelve month low of $31.97 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.39 and its 200 day moving average is $50.62. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.27.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. Research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. The trade was a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

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