Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Key Points

• Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired approximately $7.34 million worth of shares in LendingTree, representing about 1.46% of the company's stock by the end of the second quarter.
• LendingTree's stock performance highlights a 1-year price range between $33.50 and $74.15, with a current market cap of $1 billion and a P/E ratio of -18.16.
• Analysts have shown increasing confidence in LendingTree, with multiple institutions raising their price targets and ratings, including a recent upgrade to a strong-buy by Wall Street Zen and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 197,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,337,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned approximately 1.46% of LendingTree at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

LendingTree Price Performance

NASDAQ TREE traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 238,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,651. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.36 and a beta of 1.69. The company's 50-day moving average is $59.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.50 and a 1-year high of $77.35.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 25.79% and a negative net margin of 5.33%.The business had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $244.03 million. LendingTree's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $69,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 1,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,075.92. The trade was a 49.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total transaction of $83,736.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,113 shares in the company, valued at $566,125.14. This represents a 12.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock worth $598,331. Company insiders own 23.10% of the company's stock.

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.