Lazard, Inc. (LAZ) Stock Price & How to Invest

Lazard Inc. operates two core businesses. Financial Advisory provides mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, capital-markets, and sovereign advice to companies, governments, and institutions worldwide, and Asset Management runs equity, fixed-income, multi-asset, and alternatives strategies for institutional and private clients. As of mid-2026 the firm managed roughly $285 billion in assets and generated about $3 billion in trailing net revenue, split between the two segments. It carries a market capitalization near $4.4 billion, making it a mid-cap franchise with an outsized brand relative to its size.

The investment picture centers on two engines moving in opposite directions recently. In the first quarter of 2026, Financial Advisory revenue slipped about 4% year over year as some deals were delayed, while Asset Management revenue jumped roughly 17% and posted about $9 billion of net inflows, its strongest quarterly flow in nearly two decades. Lazard is also acquiring private-capital advisory firm Campbell Lutyens to deepen its alternatives franchise. Because advisory fees are inherently lumpy and tied to the health of the M&A cycle, LAZ tends to appeal to investors comfortable with cyclicality who value the high dividend and the diversification the asset-management arm provides.

Advisory revenue is highly cyclical and can drop sharply when M&A and capital-markets activity slows, which directly pressures earnings and the ability to sustain the dividend. Asset-management flows have been inconsistent, with net outflows in some recent months offsetting the record first-quarter inflows, and AUM is sensitive to equity-market swings. Lazard competes against faster-growing boutiques such as Evercore, Moelis, and Houlihan Lokey, several of which have outgrown its advisory business over the past five years. Talent is the core asset, so senior-banker departures can move revenue, and integration risk accompanies the Campbell Lutyens acquisition. Compensation costs consume a large share of revenue and compress margins in weaker quarters.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Lazard, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Market cap: ~$4.4B
• Revenue (TTM, net): ~$3.0B
• Q1 2026 net revenue: ~$757M
• Assets under management: ~$285B
• Dividend yield: ~4%
• Avg analyst price target: ~$52

Lazard trades as a mid-cap value-and-income name, with a dividend yield near 4% that reflects both the firm's payout and the market's discount for cyclical advisory earnings. First-quarter 2026 net revenue of about $757 million and net income near $101 million showed improvement, driven mainly by the asset-management rebound. Valuation debates hinge on whether the advisory cycle reaccelerates and whether asset-management flows can stay positive.

There are three common ways to get LAZ exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so LAZ sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where LAZ fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

LAZ is a blue-chip advisory-plus-asset-management franchise whose earnings swing with the deal cycle while a large dividend and a recovering asset-management segment give it a value-and-income character.

Whether LAZ is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is LAZ a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the LAZ stock forecast.

For income investors, whether LAZ pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does LAZ pay a dividend?