LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Stephens in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $69.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ price target suggests a potential upside of 45.40% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on TREE. Northland Capmk upgraded LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Northland Securities raised LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on LendingTree from $78.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.43.

LendingTree Stock Up 17.8 %

Shares of TREE stock opened at $47.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.78. The company has a market cap of $634.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 2.07. LendingTree has a 1-year low of $33.58 and a 1-year high of $62.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Scott V. Totman acquired 3,750 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.59 per share, for a total transaction of $144,712.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief technology officer now owns 18,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,029.28. The trade was a 25.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas R. Lebda acquired 13,000 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.72 per share, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 121,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,829,912.28. This represents a 11.97 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 361,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,997,000 after acquiring an additional 4,831 shares in the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC raised its stake in LendingTree by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 301,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,694,000 after buying an additional 11,784 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in LendingTree by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 253,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,697,000 after buying an additional 2,595 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in LendingTree by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 242,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,393,000 after buying an additional 15,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in LendingTree by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 204,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,940,000 after buying an additional 27,887 shares in the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is currently 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.