Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Given New $45.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $33.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.70% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Lazard Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE LAZ opened at $46.73 on Monday. Lazard has a twelve month low of $31.97 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The stock has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 10.15%. The firm had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lazard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Lazard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 12.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 48,129 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,478,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 1.8% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 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.