Nicole Miller Sells 19,199 Shares of LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock

Key Points

• LegalZoom insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares on May 19 at an average price of $6.58, worth about $126,329. The sale was part of a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and was made to cover tax withholding tied to vesting equity awards.
• LegalZoom’s stock fell to $6.37 on the day of the report, near its 50-day average of $6.15 and well below its 200-day average of $8.01. The shares have traded between $5.28 and $12.40 over the past year.
• The company’s latest earnings showed revenue growth of 12.9% year over year to $206.78 million, but EPS of $0.12 missed estimates by $0.01. LegalZoom also has a $100 million share repurchase authorization in place, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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.

Nicole Miller also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 26th, Nicole Miller sold 23,325 shares of LegalZoom.com stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.63, for a total value of $154,644.75.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

Shares of LZ stock traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $6.37. 4,133,573 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,299,159. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.28 and a 12 month high of $12.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.15 and a 200 day moving average of $8.01.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 1.46%.The business had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. LegalZoom.com's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LegalZoom.com announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $6.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings cut LegalZoom.com from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised LegalZoom.com from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,509,891 shares of the company's stock worth $14,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636,487 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 5.6% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 74,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 3,953 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 83.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 101,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 46,285 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 1,656.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 188,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 177,773 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the first quarter valued at about $2,918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company's stock.

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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