Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 8,364 LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000. Man Group plc owned 0.06% of LendingTree at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in LendingTree by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 361,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Blue Grotto Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of LendingTree by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 301,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,694,000 after acquiring an additional 11,784 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of LendingTree by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 204,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,940,000 after acquiring an additional 27,887 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of LendingTree by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 166,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,459,000 after acquiring an additional 7,095 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of LendingTree by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 166,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,455,000 after acquiring an additional 93,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingTree

In other LendingTree news, COO Scott Peyree purchased 9,794 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.13 per share, with a total value of $451,797.22. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 97,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,500,719.58. The trade was a 11.16% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 23.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TREE has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on LendingTree from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on LendingTree from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LendingTree has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.13.

LendingTree Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ TREE opened at $35.16 on Tuesday. LendingTree, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.01 and a 52 week high of $62.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.47. 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 company has a market cap of $475.89 million, a P/E ratio of -13.02 and a beta of 1.76.

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

LendingTree 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.