Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given New $42.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price target lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Lazard from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $48.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of -138.51 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.12. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 43.27%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lazard will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently -571.43%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,197,607.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,989,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,001,454.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total transaction of $6,197,607.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,001,454.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 46,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.19, for a total transaction of $1,853,040.33. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,936,722 shares in the company, valued at $77,836,857.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 414,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,683,738. 3.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Lazard by 58.9% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter valued at $48,000. Delta Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lazard in the first quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lazard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

About Lazard

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.