Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn reduced their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Lazard in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now forecasts that the asset manager will post earnings of $2.30 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.40. The consensus estimate for Lazard's current full-year earnings is $2.40 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Lazard's Q4 2024 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.96 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $1.60 EPS.
Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Lazard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lazard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on LAZ
Shares of LAZ opened at $53.31 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 1.37. Lazard has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $54.72.
Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 46.55% and a net margin of 8.28%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lazard by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,413 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 10.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 206,295 shares during the period. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lazard by 6.1% during the third quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 45,814 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,308,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 0.9% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 184,227 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Lazard by 8.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 49,763 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,727,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $86,403,427.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 1,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total transaction of $99,969.99. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,727,723 shares in the company, valued at $86,403,427.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 86,728 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.02, for a total transaction of $4,338,134.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,640,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,082,569.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 176,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,658,086 in the last ninety days. 3.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.68%.
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.
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