Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given New $51.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.63% from the company’s previous close.

LAZ has been the subject of several other reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.17.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,408. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. The company had revenue of $646.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lazard during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth $215,000. King Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. 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.