Invenomic Capital Management LP Grows Position in LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,587,044 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 305,279 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP’s holdings in LegalZoom.com were worth $15,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2,496.4% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 348,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,458,000 after acquiring an additional 334,861 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 4th quarter valued at $183,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,582,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,644,000 after acquiring an additional 491,111 shares during the last quarter. Jain Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 4th quarter valued at $553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel purchased 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 2,955,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,176,995.35. This represents a 4.42% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $126,329.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,119,222 shares in the company, valued at $7,364,480.76. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LZ. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, May 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.75.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LZ opened at $5.57 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $6.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.44. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.28 and a 1 year high of $12.40. The company has a market capitalization of $956.08 million, a PE ratio of 92.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.31.

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

LegalZoom.com announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.