LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $56.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $37.00) on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $15.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.43.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of TREE stock opened at $39.78 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.80, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 3.71. The firm has a market cap of $526.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 2.13. LendingTree has a one year low of $10.12 and a one year high of $52.76.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by $0.36. The business had revenue of $167.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.03 million. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 1.34% and a negative net margin of 21.07%. On average, analysts expect that LendingTree will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at LendingTree

In related news, Director Steven Ozonian sold 1,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.31, for a total value of $71,339.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,784 shares in the company, valued at $300,599.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Trent Ziegler sold 8,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.30, for a total value of $431,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5 shares in the company, valued at $246.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven Ozonian sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.31, for a total value of $71,339.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,599.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,802 shares of company stock worth $673,219 over the last 90 days. 23.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in LendingTree by 16.8% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in LendingTree by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in LendingTree in the fourth quarter valued at about $103,000. Bristlecone Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of LendingTree during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 47.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 15,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 4,970 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.