UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Price

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at UBS Group from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the asset manager’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 0.25% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LAZ. Zacks Research raised shares of Lazard from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Lazard from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.75.

Lazard Trading Up 9.0%

Shares of LAZ stock traded up $3.70 on Wednesday, hitting $44.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,044,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,305,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.42. Lazard has a 1 year low of $32.04 and a 1 year high of $58.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.43.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $892.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.32 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 33.04% and a net margin of 7.49%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lazard news, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 69,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.76, for a total value of $2,819,369.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 210,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,597,995.92. This represents a 24.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher Hogbin sold 3,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.37, for a total transaction of $155,275.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $465,707.73. This represents a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 80,999 shares of company stock worth $3,292,962. Insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,722,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $90,914,000 after acquiring an additional 20,591 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,744,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,920,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,210,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lazard by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,180,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,120,000 after buying an additional 245,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.