Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Hits New 12-Month High at $50.50

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.50 and last traded at $49.87, with a volume of 11324 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price (up previously from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.71.

Lazard Trading Down 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -143.94 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.99.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The asset manager reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $625.40 million. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 41.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Lazard’s payout ratio is -571.43%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,235,326.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 429,604 shares of company stock valued at $19,873,736. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1,125.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 735 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 58.9% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the second quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.