Morgan Stanley Lowers Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target to $59.00

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.73% from the stock’s previous close.

LAZ has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Lazard from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price objective on Lazard and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:LAZ opened at $51.42 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $50.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. Lazard has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $58.07.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.17. Lazard had a return on equity of 35.02% and a net margin of 8.89%.The firm had revenue of $770.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.91 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lazard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAZ. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Lazard during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lazard by 57.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 918 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.