LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) gapped up before the market opened 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 trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded shares of LegalZoom.com from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised LegalZoom.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup downgraded LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. William Blair started coverage on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.79.

LegalZoom.com Stock Up 13.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 68.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.65.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.92 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 22.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in LegalZoom.com by 5.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,836,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,177,000 after purchasing an additional 195,512 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 42,288 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 10.2% in the 2nd 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 boosted its stake 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 worth $3,218,000 after buying an additional 32,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 521,200 shares during the period. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LegalZoom.com Company Profile

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.