William Blair Downgrades LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) to Market Perform

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) was downgraded by research analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on LZ. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.30.

LegalZoom.com Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of LZ stock opened at $5.77 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.72. LegalZoom.com has a 52 week low of $5.22 and a 52 week high of $12.40. The company has a market cap of $988.17 million, a P/E ratio of 64.11, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.28.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The company had revenue of $205.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that LegalZoom.com will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In other LegalZoom.com news, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel purchased 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,955,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,176,995.35. This represents a 4.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.45, for a total value of $96,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,041,847 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,913.15. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 926,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,253,000 after acquiring an additional 323,201 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in LegalZoom.com by 187.4% during the first 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 during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 5.6% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 74,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 83.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 101,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 46,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 177,773 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.