LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 579.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,010,914 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 862,045 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LegalZoom.com were worth $5,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LZ. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in LegalZoom.com by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,408,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,757,000 after purchasing an additional 758,367 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 165.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,044,000 after buying an additional 2,324,481 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,054,000 after buying an additional 1,621,125 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% in 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,021,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,007,000 after acquiring an additional 340,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,041,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,169,913.15. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel bought 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.15 per share, for a total transaction of $768,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,955,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,176,995.35. The trade was a 4.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.25.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

NASDAQ:LZ opened at $8.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 134.69, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.31. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.22 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $6.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.83.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.14 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LegalZoom.com 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.