LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on TREE. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price target on LendingTree and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised LendingTree from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LendingTree currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.38.

LendingTree Stock Performance

LendingTree stock opened at $61.45 on Friday. LendingTree has a 12-month low of $33.50 and a 12-month high of $77.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.49. The stock has a market cap of $836.95 million, a PE ratio of -15.14 and a beta of 1.71.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 25.79% and a negative net margin of 5.33%.The firm had revenue of $250.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.03 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total value of $69,140.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,075.92. The trade was a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total value of $83,736.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,125.14. This represents a 12.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331 over the last ninety days. 23.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in LendingTree by 68.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 2,397 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 4,926.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,337,000. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the second quarter valued at approximately $882,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 72.7% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,000 after acquiring an additional 36,364 shares in the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LendingTree Company Profile

LendingTree, Inc, through its subsidiary, operates online consumer platform in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home, Consumer, and Insurance. The Home segment offers purchase mortgage, refinance mortgage, and home equity loans and lines of credit; and real estate brokerage services.