LegalZoom.com Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:LZ)

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 2,855 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 163% compared to the average volume of 1,084 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Richard Preece sold 9,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total value of $124,614.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 498,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,565,495.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other LegalZoom.com news, Director John Francis Murphy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.47, for a total value of $124,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,122.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Richard Preece sold 9,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.17, for a total transaction of $124,614.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 498,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,565,495.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,555 shares of company stock valued at $664,688. Insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LegalZoom.com

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in LegalZoom.com during the 3rd quarter worth $167,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in LegalZoom.com in the third quarter valued at $56,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,543,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 7.9% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 274.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 62,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 46,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

LegalZoom.com stock opened at $12.19 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 148.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.24. LegalZoom.com has a 1-year low of $7.78 and a 1-year high of $15.68.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $158.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.25 million. On average, research analysts expect that LegalZoom.com will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of LegalZoom.com in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of LegalZoom.com from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on LegalZoom.com in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.36.

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.