LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Reduce” rating on LegalZoom, with three sell ratings and five holds. The average 12-month price target is $7.30, while recent firms lowered targets to roughly $7.00–$7.50.
• LegalZoom shares opened at $5.84, near their 12-month low of $5.22 and below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company’s latest quarterly earnings slightly exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.16 versus $0.15 expected, while revenue rose 6.6% year over year to $205.29 million.
• Company insiders sold 577,475 shares worth approximately $3.38 million in the last quarter, including a substantial sale by the CFO. Institutional investors own the majority of the stock, at approximately 81.99%.

Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.30.

Several research analysts have issued reports on LZ shares. William Blair lowered shares of LegalZoom.com from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered LegalZoom.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

LegalZoom.com Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:LZ opened at $5.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.67 and a 200-day moving average of $6.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28. LegalZoom.com has a twelve month low of $5.22 and a twelve month high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $205.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LegalZoom.com news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 416,371 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,491,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,814,351.30. The trade was a 21.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 43,996 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total transaction of $242,417.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 976,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,382,895.32. This represents a 4.31% 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. Insiders sold a total of 577,475 shares of company stock valued at $3,375,197 in the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in LegalZoom.com by 37.2% during 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. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 14,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 13,601 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 59,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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