LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• The stock has a consensus rating of Hold from 10 analysts (3 sell, 4 hold, 3 buy) with an average 12‑month target price of about $9.42.
• Insiders have recently sold shares (CFO Noel Watson sold 15,000 at $6.96; another insider sold 23,325 at $6.63), insiders own 5.90% and institutions own 81.99%—notably Goldman Sachs increased its stake by ~2.32M shares in Q4.
• LegalZoom reported a slight EPS miss ($0.17 vs. $0.18) but revenue grew 17.7% YoY, and the board authorized a $100 million share repurchase program (up to 8.1% of shares).

Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.4167.

Several research firms have recently commented on LZ. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $6.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of LegalZoom.com from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $104,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,480,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,306,785.60. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 23,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.63, for a total transaction of $154,644.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 813,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,390,408.79. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LZ. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 165.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company's stock worth $37,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324,481 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,686,000. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,106,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 180.5% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,797,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,526,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

LZ stock opened at $6.49 on Friday. LegalZoom.com has a 1-year low of $5.28 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.14, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.30.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $190.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.85 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that LegalZoom.com will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LegalZoom.com announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About LegalZoom.com

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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