Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $55.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lazard from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ opened at $54.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.40. 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 has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.96.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Lazard by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after acquiring an additional 206,295 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,813,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $91,392,000 after purchasing an additional 15,151 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Lazard by 2.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,772,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $89,285,000 after purchasing an additional 37,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 10,306.7% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 1,235,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,918 shares during the last quarter. 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.