LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock Price Up 7.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• LegalZoom shares rose 7.9% to about $8.16 after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from “hold” to “buy,” though trading volume was far below average.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with three Buy, three Hold, and three Sell ratings; the consensus is Hold with an $8.25 price target.
• CEO Jeffrey Stibel purchased 125,000 shares, while another insider sold shares to cover tax obligations. The company’s latest quarter showed 12.9% revenue growth but slightly missed EPS estimates.

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $8.06 and last traded at $8.1550. Approximately 235,444 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 3,051,764 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.56.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LZ. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In other news, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel bought 125,000 shares of LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,955,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,176,995.35. This represents a 4.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total value of $126,329.42. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LZ. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in LegalZoom.com by 477.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,555 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 976.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,140 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 11,415.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,600 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 7,534 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in LegalZoom.com by 8,589.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in LegalZoom.com in the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.31.

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

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.

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.