Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 1,037,930 Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,013,693 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,037,930 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 2.34% of LegalZoom.com worth $22,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LZ. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 20.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in LegalZoom.com by 165.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,044,000 after buying an additional 2,324,481 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in LegalZoom.com by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,054,000 after buying an additional 1,621,125 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,327,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,537,000 after buying an additional 90,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,112,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,650,000 after buying an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LegalZoom.com presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LegalZoom.com news, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $126,329.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,119,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,364,480.76. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,041,847 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,913.15. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

Shares of LZ opened at $8.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.36, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.81. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.22 and a 52 week high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). The firm 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 was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

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.