As previously reported, BofA/Merrill analyst Michael Needham downgraded Lazard (LAZ) to Neutral from Buy and also downgraded Moelis (MC) by two notches to Underperform from Buy to reflect the slowdown in M&A activity, saying he expects Q1 to be the "first quarter in quite some time" when M&A advisors report lower revenues. The analyst also lowers his price targets on Lazard to $41 from $47 and on Moelis to $37 from $50, noting that deal pipelines started the year down 18%. Needham believes that while the Q2 deal pipeline should be stronger, it will still be hard for M&A advisors to meet consensus expectations, which call for average revenue growth of 8% of the next two years.