Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Raised to $45.00 at Morgan Stanley

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $33.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Lazard from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lazard has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.33.

Lazard Stock Performance

NYSE:LAZ traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.78. 221,333 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 970,679. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 1.32. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.39 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LAZ. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lazard by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. 54.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.