LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) Receives $9.25 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered LegalZoom.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research raised LegalZoom.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $6.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LZ opened at $6.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. LegalZoom.com has a 52 week low of $5.28 and a 52 week high of $12.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.01.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $206.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

LegalZoom.com declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at LegalZoom.com

In other news, insider Nicole Miller sold 23,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.63, for a total transaction of $154,644.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 813,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,390,408.79. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel bought 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 2,955,609 shares in the company, valued at $18,176,995.35. This trade represents a 4.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,408,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,757,000 after purchasing an additional 758,367 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 165.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324,481 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 81.0% in 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $34,537,000 after acquiring an additional 90,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 valued at $17,650,000 after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

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.