LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on LZ. William Blair downgraded LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.30.

Read Our Latest Analysis on LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of LZ opened at $5.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $962.48 million, a P/E ratio of 62.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.31. LegalZoom.com has a twelve month low of $5.22 and a twelve month high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 2.13%.The firm had revenue of $205.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Noel Watson sold 416,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.91, for a total value of $2,460,752.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,491,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,814,351.30. This represents a 21.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 43,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total value of $242,417.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 976,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,895.32. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 577,475 shares of company stock worth $3,375,197 over the last three months. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LZ. State Street Corp grew its position in LegalZoom.com by 3.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,552,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,907,000 after acquiring an additional 132,761 shares in the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,627,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,087,000 after purchasing an additional 500,787 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,112,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,650,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,587,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,759,000 after purchasing an additional 305,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 187.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,509,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,487 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About LegalZoom.com

(Get Free Report)

LegalZoom.com, Inc is an online platform that provides legal, compliance and business-related services to individuals, families and small businesses. The company helps customers complete common legal and administrative tasks through digital tools, guided document services and access to independent attorneys and other professionals.

Its business services include forming limited liability companies and corporations, obtaining registered-agent services, filing annual reports, managing business licenses and addressing tax-related requirements.

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