Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on LAZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Lazard from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $60.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.14.

Lazard Price Performance

Lazard stock opened at $51.71 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 1.37. Lazard has a 12 month low of $31.97 and a 12 month high of $61.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.66.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%.The company had revenue of $796.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.13 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.95, for a total value of $2,847,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 227,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,979,759.25. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 32,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $1,756,572.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,913,290.66. This trade represents a 15.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 108,092 shares of company stock valued at $6,030,986. Company insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 8,059 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lazard by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Lazard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 343 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.