LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock Price Down 5.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) shares traded down 5.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $7.34 and last traded at $7.2950. 486,444 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 3,097,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.70.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LegalZoom.com news, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total value of $126,329.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,119,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,364,480.76. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,041,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,913.15. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 477.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 976.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 11,415.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 7,534 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 8,589.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 5,068 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 121.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. LegalZoom.com’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LegalZoom.com Company Profile

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.