Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP Boosts Stake in LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its position in LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 48.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 735,929 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,100 shares during the quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP owned 0.43% of LegalZoom.com worth $4,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in LegalZoom.com by 165.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324,481 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new position in LegalZoom.com during the third quarter worth about $20,686,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 180.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,797,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,462 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,526,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 507.3% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,842,000 after buying an additional 922,829 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,041,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,169,913.15. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel bought 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 2,955,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,176,995.35. This represents a 4.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, LegalZoom.com presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.25.

LegalZoom.com Trading Up 5.3%

LZ stock opened at $7.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.02, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.31. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.22 and a twelve month high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $206.78 million for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current 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.