Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ)

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 2,855 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 163% compared to the average volume of 1,084 put options.

LegalZoom.com Trading Up 1.0 %

LegalZoom.com stock opened at $12.05 on Tuesday. LegalZoom.com has a 1-year low of $7.78 and a 1-year high of $15.68. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 150.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.50.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $158.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.25 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 15.79%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In related news, COO Richard Preece sold 9,462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $124,614.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 498,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,565,495.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other LegalZoom.com news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.47, for a total transaction of $124,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,122.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Richard Preece sold 9,462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $124,614.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 498,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,565,495.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,555 shares of company stock worth $664,688. 44.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 21.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,198,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,111,000 after purchasing an additional 208,030 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,999,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257,224 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in LegalZoom.com by 83.0% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,315,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,877,000 after buying an additional 1,504,152 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 24.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 908,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,938,000 after acquiring an additional 179,456 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.36.

LegalZoom.com Company Profile

LegalZoom.com, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an online platform that supports the legal, compliance, and business management needs of small businesses and consumers in the United States. The company's platform offers business formation products, such as limited liability company, incorporation of C and S corporations, nonprofit formations, doing-business-as, corporate changes and filings, business licenses, legal forms, and beneficial ownership information reports; intellectual property products consisting of trademark and patent applications, and copyright registrations; and tax services, including business and personal tax preparations.