LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $7.00 to $8.00. The stock had previously closed at $7.52, but opened at $7.86. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. LegalZoom.com shares last traded at $7.88, with a volume of 262,884 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on LegalZoom.com in a research note on Friday, December 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. William Blair began coverage on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised LegalZoom.com from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 5,581,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,827,000 after purchasing an additional 762,612 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 26.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,466,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,698,000 after purchasing an additional 521,200 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in LegalZoom.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,112,000. Tabor Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 44.9% during the third quarter. Tabor Asset Management LP now owns 1,522,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after buying an additional 472,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 25.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,287,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,806,000 after buying an additional 262,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 60.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $7.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.11.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business had revenue of $168.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.66 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

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.