Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,327 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of LendingTree worth $2,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,260,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,890,000 after buying an additional 26,934 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in LendingTree by 54.7% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 269,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,190,000 after purchasing an additional 95,363 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in LendingTree by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 257,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,486,000 after purchasing an additional 13,800 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in LendingTree by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 234,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,994,000 after purchasing an additional 13,844 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in LendingTree by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 218,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 26,100 shares during the period. 70.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TREE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

LendingTree Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of TREE stock opened at $18.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a current ratio of 3.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.49 million, a P/E ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.63. LendingTree, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.02 and a fifty-two week high of $47.82.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $1.07. The firm had revenue of $182.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.03 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 18.93% and a negative return on equity of 13.25%. Equities research analysts predict that LendingTree, Inc. will post -1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LendingTree news, CEO Douglas R. Lebda sold 172,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total transaction of $3,270,030.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,210.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jill Olmstead sold 2,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.32, for a total transaction of $58,723.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,748.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Douglas R. Lebda sold 172,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total transaction of $3,270,030.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,210.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 23.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LendingTree Company Profile

LendingTree, Inc, through its subsidiary, LT Intermediate Company, LLC, 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, reverse mortgage, and home equity loans; lines of credit; and real estate brokerage services.