Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases New Shares in LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 339,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,923,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.20% of LegalZoom.com as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LZ. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. Prelude Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 14,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its position in LegalZoom.com by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 13,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in LegalZoom.com by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 59,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicole Miller sold 19,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $126,329.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,119,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,364,480.76. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,955,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,176,995.35. This represents a 4.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on LZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on LegalZoom.com from $11.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LegalZoom.com currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.25.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LZ opened at $7.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.19, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.80. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.22 and a 52-week high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $206.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.14 million. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 1.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

LegalZoom.com 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.