Wall Street Zen Upgrades LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) to Buy

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LZ. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group reduced their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.25.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

LZ stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.25. 4,051,165 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,567,488. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.06. LegalZoom.com has a one year low of $5.22 and a one year high of $12.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $206.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.14 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. LegalZoom.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In other news, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total value of $96,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,041,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,913.15. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,324,481 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com during the 3rd quarter worth $20,686,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,509,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,231,000 after buying an additional 1,636,487 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 180.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,797,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,014,000 after buying an additional 1,156,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in LegalZoom.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,526,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.