Boothbay Fund Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Boothbay Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,501 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned 0.32% of LendingTree worth $2,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LendingTree by 7.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 267,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,909,000 after purchasing an additional 18,207 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of LendingTree by 43.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 4,871 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in LendingTree during the second quarter worth about $545,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 12.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TREE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on LendingTree from $83.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.00.

LendingTree Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:TREE opened at $40.23 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $557.59 million, a PE ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 2.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.15 and its 200 day moving average is $56.00. LendingTree, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $77.35.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The financial services provider reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($1.29). LendingTree had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $310.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $286.56 million. LendingTree’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

About LendingTree

LendingTree, Inc operates an online marketplace that connects consumers with a network of lenders and financial service providers. Through its platform, borrowers can compare loan offers for mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans, student loans, auto loans and small business financing. The company also offers tools for comparing credit cards and deposit accounts, allowing users to research rates and terms from a range of providers in one place.

Founded in 1996 by Doug Lebda, LendingTree pioneered the comparison-shopping model for consumer credit products.