Heather Novitsky Sells 2,000 Shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Stock

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) General Counsel Heather Novitsky sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.08, for a total transaction of $98,160.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,681.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of LendingTree stock opened at $47.81 on Thursday. LendingTree, Inc. has a one year low of $10.12 and a one year high of $52.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.42 and its 200 day moving average is $30.78. The stock has a market cap of $632.29 million, a P/E ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.80, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a current ratio of 3.71.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $134.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.55 million. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 1.34% and a negative net margin of 21.07%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.53) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LendingTree, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 186.2% in the fourth quarter. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. now owns 343,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 223,440 shares during the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC purchased a new position in LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth about $4,930,000. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth about $2,361,000. Alta Park Capital LP purchased a new position in LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth about $2,297,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in LendingTree in the third quarter worth about $1,031,000. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TREE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on LendingTree from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $15.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of LendingTree from $40.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of LendingTree from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.50.

About LendingTree

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.