Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 20,723 Shares of LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its ownership in LendingTree, Inc. by 20.6% to 79,799 shares, valued at approximately $4.01 million, according to its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Lazard Asset Management and Mirae Asset Global Investments, significantly increased their stakes in LendingTree, with some experiencing boosts of over 4,900% in their positions.
• LendingTree reported $1.13 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” with a target price of $65.38.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its holdings in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,723 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of LendingTree worth $4,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TREE. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of LendingTree by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 14,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of LendingTree by 5.5% during the first 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in LendingTree by 4.3% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 357,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,979,000 after purchasing an additional 14,644 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in LendingTree in the first quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of LendingTree by 51.1% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded LendingTree from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price objective on LendingTree and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded LendingTree from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.86, for a total transaction of $445,455.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,517 shares in the company, valued at $448,760.62. This represents a 49.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total transaction of $83,736.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at $566,125.14. This trade represents a 12.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company's stock.

LendingTree Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of TREE stock traded down $1.98 on Friday, reaching $74.53. 238,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,841. The business's 50 day moving average price is $59.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.99. LendingTree, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.50 and a twelve month high of $77.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 1.69.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The business had revenue of $250.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.03 million. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.