StockNews.com Downgrades Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) to Hold

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on LAZ. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lazard presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LAZ traded down $3.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,358,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 935,120. Lazard has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. As a group, analysts predict that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.64, for a total value of $1,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 188,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,108,350.72. This trade represents a 15.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.24, for a total value of $2,919,744.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 234,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,623,437.76. The trade was a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock valued at $9,120,541. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lazard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $555,393,000 after acquiring an additional 81,559 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Lazard by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $228,045,000 after acquiring an additional 240,938 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lazard by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,297,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $118,294,000 after acquiring an additional 483,696 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.