LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on LZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Thursday, August 6th. William Blair cut shares of LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $7.30.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

LZ opened at $5.68 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.69. LegalZoom.com has a 12 month low of $5.22 and a 12 month high of $12.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $972.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.11, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.28.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $205.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 2.13%.LegalZoom.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,041,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,169,913.15. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 1,119,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,364,480.76. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LegalZoom.com

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LZ. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,766 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in LegalZoom.com by 976.4% in the second 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. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 11,415.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 7,534 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Hedge funds and other 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.