LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Northland Capmk

Northland Capmk upgraded shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on TREE. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Northland Securities upgraded LendingTree from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of LendingTree from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LendingTree currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

LendingTree Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of LendingTree stock opened at $42.51 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.82. The company has a market cap of $567.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.74 and a beta of 2.06. LendingTree has a 12-month low of $28.50 and a 12-month high of $62.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

Insider Activity

In other LendingTree news, CEO Douglas R. Lebda acquired 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.72 per share, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,599 shares in the company, valued at $4,829,912.28. This represents a 11.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Scott V. Totman bought 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.59 per share, with a total value of $144,712.50. Following the acquisition, the chief technology officer now owns 18,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,029.28. This represents a 25.97 % 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 Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of LendingTree by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in LendingTree by 124.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 11,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 6,467 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,898,000 after buying an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of LendingTree by 262.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of LendingTree in the 3rd quarter worth about $356,000. Institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

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.