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 Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. William Blair lowered LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.30.

LegalZoom.com Trading Down 3.0%

LZ opened at $5.45 on Friday. LegalZoom.com has a 1-year low of $5.22 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The company has a market capitalization of $933.37 million, a PE ratio of 60.56, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.30.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $205.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LegalZoom.com news, CFO Noel Watson sold 83,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.83, for a total transaction of $487,557.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,407,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,207,479.83. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 33,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total value of $184,469.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 943,453 shares in the company, valued at $5,198,426.03. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders sold a total of 577,475 shares of company stock valued at $3,375,197 in the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LZ. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,552,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,907,000 after buying an additional 132,761 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 3.0% in 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. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,850,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,474,000 after acquiring an additional 161,231 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,509,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,587,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,759,000 after purchasing an additional 305,279 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc is an online platform that provides legal, compliance and business-related services to individuals, families and small businesses. The company helps customers complete common legal and administrative tasks through digital tools, guided document services and access to independent attorneys and other professionals.

Its business services include forming limited liability companies and corporations, obtaining registered-agent services, filing annual reports, managing business licenses and addressing tax-related requirements.