LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup cut its price target on LegalZoom from $6.00 to $5.50 and maintained a neutral rating; the revised target implies 16.65% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Reduce,” with a $6.70 average target. Shares fell 2.8% to $4.71 on Tuesday.
• LegalZoom’s latest quarter met EPS expectations at $0.19 and beat revenue estimates with $195.15 million; revenue grew 2.6% year over year.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $6.00 to $5.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 16.65% from the company's previous close.

LZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America lowered LegalZoom.com from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. William Blair downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered LegalZoom.com from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered LegalZoom.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $6.70.

LegalZoom.com Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of LZ traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,672,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,995,796. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.48. LegalZoom.com has a one year low of $4.54 and a one year high of $10.51. The firm has a market cap of $807.49 million, a PE ratio of 39.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.16.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19. The business had revenue of $195.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 2.56%. LegalZoom.com's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Noel Watson sold 416,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.91, for a total transaction of $2,460,752.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,491,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,814,351.30. This represents a 21.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 43,996 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total value of $242,417.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 976,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,382,895.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold 577,475 shares of company stock worth $3,375,197 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 255.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 3,602 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 11,415.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,600 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 7,534 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the second quarter worth $67,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LegalZoom.com Company Profile

LegalZoom.com, Inc. provides online legal and compliance services to individuals and small businesses. Its platform helps customers complete common legal tasks through guided tools and access to professional services. Services include forming limited liability companies and corporations, registered agent services, business compliance support, trademark applications, and personal legal documents such as wills and estate plans. The company also offers access to attorneys for legal advice and assistance.

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