Wall Street Zen Upgrades LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) to “Buy”

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on LZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, William Blair cut LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $7.30.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LZ opened at $5.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.31. LegalZoom.com has a fifty-two week low of $5.22 and a fifty-two week high of $12.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $962.48 million, a P/E ratio of 62.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.26.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at LegalZoom.com

In related news, CFO Noel Watson sold 416,371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.91, for a total transaction of $2,460,752.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,491,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,814,351.30. This represents a 21.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 43,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total value of $242,417.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 976,932 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,895.32. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 577,475 shares of company stock valued at $3,375,197. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LZ. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 255.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 3,602 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 11,415.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 7,534 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in LegalZoom.com during the second quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 110.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 4,307 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LegalZoom.com Company Profile

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.