Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Cut to “Underweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $33.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock, down from their prior target price of $56.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LAZ. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lazard from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of Lazard stock opened at $38.41 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.84. Lazard has a one year low of $31.97 and a one year high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was 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 $10,623,437.76. This trade represents a 21.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lazard

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,962,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 31,967.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 936,676 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,886,000 after acquiring an additional 933,755 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,284,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,137,000 after purchasing an additional 638,169 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Lazard by 335.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 734,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,836,000 after purchasing an additional 566,051 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 483,696 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.