LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Upgraded to "Buy" at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has upgraded LegalZoom.com from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating, increasing the price target from $8.00 to $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 43.37%.
• Shares of LegalZoom.com currently trade at around $8.37, with a market cap of $1.52 billion and have shown a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.5%.
• Despite some upgrades, the consensus rating for LegalZoom.com remains a "Hold," with one sell rating and five hold ratings among analysts.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $12.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $8.00. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.29% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on LZ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of LegalZoom.com from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LegalZoom.com presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.75.

LegalZoom.com Trading Up 31.2%

NASDAQ LZ traded up $2.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.98. 12,934,604 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,830,438. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 68.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.23. LegalZoom.com has a fifty-two week low of $5.56 and a fifty-two week high of $11.93. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $8.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.77.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15. The business had revenue of $192.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $182.49 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 23.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2,750.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 9,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company's stock.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an online platform that supports the legal, compliance, and business management needs of small businesses and consumers in the United States. The company's platform offers business formation products, such as limited liability company, incorporation of C and S corporations, nonprofit formations, doing-business-as, corporate changes and filings, business licenses, legal forms, and beneficial ownership information reports; intellectual property products consisting of trademark and patent applications, and copyright registrations; and tax services, including business and personal tax preparations.