Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 1,037,930 Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its stake in LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 20.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,013,693 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,037,930 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in LegalZoom.com were worth $22,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LZ. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,408,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,757,000 after buying an additional 758,367 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 165.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324,481 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,125 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,327,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,537,000 after acquiring an additional 90,599 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,112,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,650,000 after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LegalZoom.com news, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $126,329.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,119,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,364,480.76. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel purchased 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.15 per share, for a total transaction of $768,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,955,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,176,995.35. This trade represents a 4.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

Shares of LZ opened at $8.42 on Thursday. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.22 and a twelve month high of $12.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.36, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.31.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 1.46%.The company had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc (NASDAQ: LZ) operates as a leading online legal technology company that provides a broad range of legal and business services to individuals, families and small businesses. Through its digital platform, the company offers customized legal documents and filing services, including business formation (LLCs, corporations and nonprofits), estate planning (wills and trusts), intellectual property protection (trademarks and copyrights), and ongoing compliance support. LegalZoom also connects customers with independent attorneys for consultations on matters such as family law, immigration and real estate.

Founded in 2001 by entrepreneurs Brian Lee, Brian P.