LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $62.00. The stock had previously closed at $54.12, but opened at $44.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. LendingTree shares last traded at $38.90, with a volume of 778,850 shares.

TREE has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Northland Capmk raised LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on 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 given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LendingTree currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Scott Peyree purchased 9,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.13 per share, for a total transaction of $451,797.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,500,719.58. The trade was a 11.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC increased its position 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 worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 16,077 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in LendingTree by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 242,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,393,000 after purchasing an additional 15,400 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in LendingTree by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 101.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 24,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

LendingTree Trading Down 20.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $578.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.32.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.25. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 4.72% and a positive return on equity of 0.51%. The company had revenue of $239.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.93 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.