Wall Street Zen Downgrades LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) to Hold

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

LZ has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.25.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

LZ stock opened at $7.34 on Monday. LegalZoom.com has a 12 month low of $5.22 and a 12 month high of $12.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 122.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.42 and its 200 day moving average is $6.92.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total transaction of $96,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total value of $126,329.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,119,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,364,480.76. This trade represents a 1.69% 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. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com during the 4th quarter valued at about $185,000. Amundi acquired a new position in LegalZoom.com in the 1st quarter worth about $196,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 74,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in LegalZoom.com by 9.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,313,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,309,000 after purchasing an additional 113,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 1.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 275,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Company 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.