Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Holdings Lifted by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 89,486 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,121 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $4,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Lazard during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Lazard by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,813 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares during the period. Finally, My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lazard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. 54.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lazard from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Lazard from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Lazard from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lazard from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Lazard from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

Lazard Stock Up 1.6 %

Lazard stock opened at $53.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.76. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 1.40. Lazard, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.56 and a twelve month high of $61.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Lazard had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 42.20%. The firm had revenue of $646.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Lazard’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.