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

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $8.00 to $9.00. The stock had previously closed at $8.85, but opened at $9.66. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. LegalZoom.com shares last traded at $10.28, with a volume of 628,157 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on LegalZoom.com from $7.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LegalZoom.com currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,271,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,574,700 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 297.9% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,171,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,799,000 after purchasing an additional 877,125 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in LegalZoom.com in the fourth quarter worth about $5,769,000. Ararat Capital Management LP raised its stake in LegalZoom.com by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Ararat Capital Management LP now owns 3,248,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,396,000 after buying an additional 682,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of LegalZoom.com by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,153,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,662,000 after acquiring an additional 585,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.61.

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.