LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.30.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LZ. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. William Blair lowered LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup lowered their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LZ opened at $6.15 on Friday. LegalZoom.com has a 52 week low of $5.22 and a 52 week high of $12.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $205.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 2.13%.The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at LegalZoom.com

In related news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 416,371 shares of LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.91, for a total value of $2,460,752.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,491,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,814,351.30. The trade was a 21.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 43,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 976,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,895.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 577,475 shares of company stock worth $3,375,197. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 477.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in LegalZoom.com by 976.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,140 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in LegalZoom.com by 8,589.8% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 7,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.