LendingTree, Inc. $TREE Position Cut by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.96% of LendingTree worth $6,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in LendingTree by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 94,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,677,000 after buying an additional 6,011 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in LendingTree by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 23,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in LendingTree by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in LendingTree by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 3,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in LendingTree by 280.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 25,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 18,610 shares in the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TREE. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price target on LendingTree and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised LendingTree from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $69,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 1,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,075.92. This represents a 49.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total value of $83,736.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $566,125.14. The trade was a 12.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock worth $598,331. Insiders own 23.10% of the company’s stock.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TREE opened at $71.82 on Friday. LendingTree, Inc. has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $74.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.69 and a 200-day moving average of $46.72. The company has a market capitalization of $978.19 million, a PE ratio of -17.69 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 25.79% and a negative net margin of 5.33%.The company had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.03 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.