Emerald Advisers LLC Acquires 4,831 Shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)

Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 361,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,831 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC’s holdings in LendingTree were worth $13,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Walleye Capital LLC grew its position in LendingTree by 118.0% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 7,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 50,910 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in LendingTree by 74.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 84,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,262,000 after buying an additional 35,970 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 50,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 33,309 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,254,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth approximately $899,000. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TREE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.75.

LendingTree Price Performance

NASDAQ:TREE opened at $51.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $692.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.14 and a beta of 2.14. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.09. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.58 and a 1 year high of $62.49.

Insider Transactions at LendingTree

In related news, COO Scott Peyree bought 21,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $41.69 per share, for a total transaction of $877,366.05. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 76,760 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,124.40. This trade represents a 37.77 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

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.