Assetmark Inc. Has $194,000 Position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ)

Assetmark Inc. lowered its stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Lazard were worth $194,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lazard in the 1st quarter valued at $251,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Lazard by 10.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Lazard by 9.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 287,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,452,000 after purchasing an additional 25,480 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Lazard by 5.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 166,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,205,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Lazard in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,372,000. 54.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Lazard from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lazard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lazard from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $50.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 1.35. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $61.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.46.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $796.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.13 million. Lazard had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio is 68.97%.

Lazard Profile

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.