Investors Buy Large Volume of LegalZoom.com Call Options (NASDAQ:LZ)

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 7,562 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 521% compared to the average daily volume of 1,217 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Richard Preece sold 9,462 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $124,614.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 498,519 shares in the company, valued at $6,565,495.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other LegalZoom.com news, COO Richard Preece sold 9,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $124,614.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 498,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,565,495.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Francis Murphy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.47, for a total value of $124,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,122.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,555 shares of company stock valued at $664,688. Company insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com during the 3rd quarter worth about $167,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,543,000 after buying an additional 7,577 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 7.9% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its stake in LegalZoom.com by 274.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 62,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 46,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on LegalZoom.com from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LegalZoom.com currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.36.

LegalZoom.com Trading Down 23.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LZ traded down $2.84 on Wednesday, reaching $9.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,137,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,860. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 116.89, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.24. LegalZoom.com has a 52-week low of $7.88 and a 52-week high of $15.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.53.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 2.11%. The business had revenue of $158.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.25 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that LegalZoom.com will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an online platform that supports the legal, compliance, and business management needs of small businesses and consumers in the United States. The company's platform offers business formation products, such as limited liability company, incorporation of C and S corporations, nonprofit formations, doing-business-as, corporate changes and filings, business licenses, legal forms, and beneficial ownership information reports; intellectual property products consisting of trademark and patent applications, and copyright registrations; and tax services, including business and personal tax preparations.