LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

LZ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Three research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.25.

LegalZoom.com Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of LegalZoom.com stock opened at $7.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 131.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.80. LegalZoom.com has a 12 month low of $5.22 and a 12 month high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 20.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,408,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,757,000 after acquiring an additional 758,367 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in LegalZoom.com by 165.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,125 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,327,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,537,000 after purchasing an additional 90,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,112,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,650,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.