LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Stock Jumps 4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) shot up 4% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $4.94 and last traded at $5.0120. Approximately 97,063 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average session volume of 2,993,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. William Blair downgraded LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of LegalZoom.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LegalZoom.com currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $6.70.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.44. The company has a market cap of $815.06 million, a P/E ratio of 41.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19. The company had revenue of $195.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 23.63%. LegalZoom.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Noel Watson sold 83,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.83, for a total value of $487,557.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,407,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,207,479.83. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 33,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total transaction of $184,469.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 943,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,198,426.03. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 577,475 shares of company stock valued at $3,375,197. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LegalZoom.com

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,552,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,907,000 after buying an additional 132,761 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,112,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,650,000 after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,850,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,474,000 after acquiring an additional 161,231 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,509,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in LegalZoom.com during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,375,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Company Profile

LegalZoom.com, Inc. provides online legal and compliance services to individuals and small businesses. Its platform helps customers complete common legal tasks through guided tools and access to professional services. Services include forming limited liability companies and corporations, registered agent services, business compliance support, trademark applications, and personal legal documents such as wills and estate plans. The company also offers access to attorneys for legal advice and assistance.