Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Price Target Cut to $59.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $61.00 to $59.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.20% from the company’s current price.

LAZ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lazard from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Lazard in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $46.00 price target on shares of Lazard and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lazard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

Lazard Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of LAZ traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.92. 77,570 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 618,337. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.60. Lazard has a twelve month low of $31.97 and a twelve month high of $58.07. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

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

Institutional Trading of Lazard

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at $42,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Lazard by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 643 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,292,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Lazard by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 274,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,541,000 after acquiring an additional 43,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

About Lazard

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.