Northland Securities Upgrades LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) to “Outperform”

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) was upgraded by research analysts at Northland Securities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $60.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Northland Securities’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 43.66% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on LendingTree from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna increased their target price on LendingTree from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

LendingTree Stock Up 2.8 %

TREE traded up $1.13 on Tuesday, hitting $41.77. 46,119 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 193,521. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.08 and its 200-day moving average is $48.84. LendingTree has a 12 month low of $28.28 and a 12 month high of $62.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $557.99 million, a PE ratio of -15.56 and a beta of 2.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LendingTree news, CTO Scott V. Totman acquired 3,750 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.59 per share, with a total value of $144,712.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,192 shares in the company, valued at $702,029.28. This trade represents a 25.97 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas R. Lebda acquired 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.72 per share, with a total value of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,829,912.28. This trade represents a 11.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of LendingTree during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,651,000. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 118.0% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 7,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 50,910 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in LendingTree in the third quarter worth $1,612,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in LendingTree in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,045,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 301.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 16,077 shares during the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.