Royal Bank of Canada Has $1.07 Million Stock Position in LegalZoom.com, Inc. $LZ

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) by 1,656.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 188,505 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177,773 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in LegalZoom.com were worth $1,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LZ. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in LegalZoom.com by 255.5% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 231,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 166,574 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 87.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 613,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after acquiring an additional 287,063 shares during the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in LegalZoom.com by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,627,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,087,000 after acquiring an additional 500,787 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,918,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LegalZoom.com by 579.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,010,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,732,000 after acquiring an additional 862,045 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down from $8.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded LegalZoom.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, William Blair lowered LegalZoom.com from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LegalZoom.com presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.30.

LegalZoom.com Price Performance

LZ stock opened at $5.84 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.50. LegalZoom.com, Inc. has a one year low of $5.22 and a one year high of $12.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $205.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.83 million. LegalZoom.com had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.83%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that LegalZoom.com, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other LegalZoom.com news, CFO Noel Bertram Watson sold 83,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.83, for a total value of $487,557.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,407,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,207,479.83. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 33,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.51, for a total transaction of $184,469.29. Following the sale, the insider owned 943,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,198,426.03. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 577,475 shares of company stock valued at $3,375,197 in the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc (NASDAQ: LZ) operates as a leading online legal technology company that provides a broad range of legal and business services to individuals, families and small businesses. Through its digital platform, the company offers customized legal documents and filing services, including business formation (LLCs, corporations and nonprofits), estate planning (wills and trusts), intellectual property protection (trademarks and copyrights), and ongoing compliance support. LegalZoom also connects customers with independent attorneys for consultations on matters such as family law, immigration and real estate.

Founded in 2001 by entrepreneurs Brian Lee, Brian P.