LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) Receives $8.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.75.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LZ. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $6.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of LegalZoom.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

Shares of LZ opened at $5.91 on Monday. LegalZoom.com has a fifty-two week low of $5.28 and a fifty-two week high of $12.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.53. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.52, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.31.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $202.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. LegalZoom.com’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

LegalZoom.com announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In other LegalZoom.com news, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel acquired 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.15 per share, for a total transaction of $768,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,955,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,176,995.35. The trade was a 4.42% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,170,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,528,000 after purchasing an additional 817,462 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 231,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after buying an additional 166,574 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,281,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,305,000 after buying an additional 390,742 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 87.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 613,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after buying an additional 287,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,106,000. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.