Voya Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 368.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 406,847 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 320,026 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.23% of LegalZoom.com worth $4,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com during the first quarter worth $29,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 477.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 976.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,140 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in LegalZoom.com during the second quarter worth approximately $96,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LZ shares. William Blair upgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.56, for a total transaction of $143,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,551,582 shares in the company, valued at $14,833,123.92. This represents a 0.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 23,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.63, for a total value of $226,362.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 868,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,364,878.01. This represents a 2.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ LZ opened at $10.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.81. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $12.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 83.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.23.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $190.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.27 million. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 3.05%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. Research analysts predict that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

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.