Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given New $44.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $51.00 to $44.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Lazard from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities raised their target price on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $49.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.67 and a 200 day moving average of $49.88. Lazard has a 12 month low of $35.56 and a 12 month high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.22 million. Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Lazard’s payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Lazard by 1,125.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth about $50,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth about $215,000. King Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter worth about $235,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.