Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Stock

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) had its price target increased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $63.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.22% from the stock’s current price.

LAZ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lazard presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock opened at $55.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.77. Lazard has a 52 week low of $35.56 and a 52 week high of $61.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. Lazard had a return on equity of 42.20% and a net margin of 8.28%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lazard will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lazard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lazard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Lazard by 209.0% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lazard

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.