Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.58, but opened at $36.38. Lazard shares last traded at $36.65, with a volume of 44,501 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on LAZ shares. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Lazard from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered Lazard from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Lazard from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Lazard Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.52.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 44.58%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.19%.

Insider Transactions at Lazard

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total transaction of $2,940,396.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. This represents a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of Lazard 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,041,943.36. This trade represents a 13.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,788,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $555,393,000 after buying an additional 81,559 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Lazard by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,429,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $228,045,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lazard by 26.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 483,696 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,250,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $113,357,000 after purchasing an additional 206,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,948,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,149,000 after purchasing an additional 55,469 shares in the last quarter. 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.