LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.15, but opened at $9.12. LegalZoom.com shares last traded at $8.52, with a volume of 244,628 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Friday, September 13th. William Blair assumed coverage on LegalZoom.com in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of LegalZoom.com from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $13.00 to $6.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LegalZoom.com presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.79.

LegalZoom.com Trading Up 13.4 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 68.77, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 22.36% and a net margin of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $177.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of LegalZoom.com

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in LegalZoom.com by 5.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,836,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,177,000 after purchasing an additional 195,512 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 148.3% during the 1st quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 70,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 42,288 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 10.2% during the second quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,996,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,751,000 after buying an additional 184,696 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 15.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 241,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 32,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 26.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,466,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,698,000 after acquiring an additional 521,200 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an online platform that supports the legal, compliance, and business management needs of small businesses and consumers in the United States. The company’s platform offers business formation products, such as limited liability company, incorporation of C and S corporations, nonprofit formations, doing-business-as, corporate changes and filings, business licenses, legal forms, and beneficial ownership information reports; intellectual property products consisting of trademark and patent applications, and copyright registrations; and tax services, including business and personal tax preparations.