LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ Shares Bought by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management sharply increased its LegalZoom stake by 255.5% in Q4, ending with 231,773 shares valued at about $2.3 million. Overall, institutional investors now own 81.99% of the company.
• LegalZoom reported Q1 revenue of $206.78 million, topping estimates, but EPS came in at $0.12 versus the $0.13 consensus. Revenue rose 12.9% year over year, and analysts still expect full-year EPS of 0.32.
• The company has a $100 million share repurchase program in place, while recent insider sales by the CFO and another executive were disclosed as part of pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans for tax withholding. Analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $8.75.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ - Free Report) by 255.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,773 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 166,574 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.13% of LegalZoom.com worth $2,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,352 shares of the company's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,906 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 14,185 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 13,601 shares of the company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LZ opened at $6.29 on Friday. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.28 and a 12 month high of $12.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.85, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.33.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

LegalZoom.com declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In other LegalZoom.com news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,041,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,169,913.15. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $126,329.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,119,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,364,480.76. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 5.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on LZ shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of LegalZoom.com from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three 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 MarketBeat, LegalZoom.com has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.75.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.