Noel Bertram Watson Sells 83,629 Shares of LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 83,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.83, for a total transaction of $487,557.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,407,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,207,479.83. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Noel Bertram Watson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 20th, Noel Bertram Watson sold 416,371 shares of LegalZoom.com stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.91, for a total transaction of $2,460,752.61.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LZ opened at $5.84 on Friday. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.22 and a 52-week high of $12.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $6.67 and a 200 day moving average of $6.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 64.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.01. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 15.83% and a net margin of 2.13%.The business had revenue of $205.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in LegalZoom.com by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,408,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,757,000 after acquiring an additional 758,367 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in LegalZoom.com by 165.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,730,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324,481 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in LegalZoom.com by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,125 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,327,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,537,000 after purchasing an additional 90,599 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,112,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,650,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup decreased 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 note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $7.30.

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.