LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Position Cut by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) by 38.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,109 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of LendingTree worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in LendingTree in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 248.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co purchased a new position in shares of LendingTree during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in LendingTree during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TREE shares. Wall Street Zen cut LendingTree from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 11th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of LendingTree from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.13.

LendingTree Trading Up 0.4%

TREE traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $35.59. 312,640 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,148. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.01 and a 1 year high of $62.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.25. The firm has a market cap of $481.71 million, a P/E ratio of -13.18 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.25. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 4.72% and a positive return on equity of 0.51%. The firm had revenue of $239.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $244.93 million. LendingTree's revenue for the quarter was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Scott Peyree purchased 21,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.69 per share, with a total value of $877,366.05. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 76,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,200,124.40. This represents a 37.77% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $45,300.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 2,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,494.72. This represents a 38.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 23.40% 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.