Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock Price

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) had its price objective cut by analysts at Citigroup from $8.50 to $7.50 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of LegalZoom.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of LegalZoom.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.75.

LegalZoom.com Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ LZ traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $6.37. The company had a trading volume of 440,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,529. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $6.15 and a 200 day moving average of $7.93. LegalZoom.com has a 1-year low of $5.28 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 1.46% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $206.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

LegalZoom.com declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at LegalZoom.com

In related news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total value of $96,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,041,847 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,913.15. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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. Also, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel acquired 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 $18,176,995.35. The trade was a 4.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 57,524 shares of company stock worth $377,724 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 187.4% during 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 raised its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 74,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 3,953 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 83.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 101,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 46,285 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 1,656.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 188,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 177,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com during the 1st quarter worth $2,918,000. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.