LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $68.00. The stock had previously closed at $40.27, but opened at $47.84. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. LendingTree shares last traded at $48.31, with a volume of 219,242 shares trading hands.

TREE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Northland Securities raised LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Northland Capmk raised shares of LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the third quarter worth $3,651,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in LendingTree by 101.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of LendingTree during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,612,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in LendingTree during the third quarter worth $1,045,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 301.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 16,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

LendingTree Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $661.73 million, a PE ratio of -18.31 and a beta of 2.07.

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.